The Potter Twins: Year One
by littlegirlwarrior
Summary: Okay, so this is my first fanfiction, so don't be cruel and don't stop reading after the first chapter. Give the story a chance. This follows the same plot as the original, but there are two Potters: Sydney and Nicki. Read, rate, review, enjoy! Complete! Sequel is out!
1. Secrets from the Past

**Hey y'all (pardon my occasional southern exclamations; I'm only half southern but it's more fun than typing in a northern accent ;-). This is my first fanfiction but I have been developing the Potter Twins for about a year and a half with my best friend. I pretend to be Nicki because she is fun to be and if I was Sydney, I would practically be acting as myself (except for the horseback riding cuz that's my friend's thing). All characters except for Sydney, Nicki, and a few others who will appear in future chapters belong to J.K. Rowling. **

_Prologue_

Albus Dumbledore held two six month old babies in his arms, one with light hair and one with dark hair. Suddenly, the black cat watching him turned into a woman. "Are you sure you want to do this, Albus?"

"Yes Minerva. Voldemort will never look for them here. James and Lily died for their daughters and we must protect them." Dumbledore walked up to the front door and placed the babies on the doorstep. He took out his wand and conjured up a note to leave with the girls. He knocked on the door before he and Minerva McGonagall disappeared.

_Chapter 1_

"Nicki! Sydney! Get out of bed you lazy oafs!"

The two ten year olds sat up at the same time, whacking their heads on the low ceiling. "Ow!" they both exclaimed. This was how their mornings always started: waking up at 6 am to clean and making breakfast for their Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and cousin Dudley. Ever since their parents died in what Uncle Vernon said was a car accident, Nicki and Sydney Potter worked hard as servants in the Dursley household. The only fun thing to do was have arguments with Dudley.

Even though Nicki and Sydney were twins, they looked nothing alike. Sydney had long, curly blonde hair that always grew to the middle of her back, no matter how short it was cut the day before. She had purple eyes that looked pink when she was mad and black when she was hurt. Sydney was the smart twin and loved riding horses, even though it was hard for her to get that opportunity. Sydney had a star-shaped scar on the left side of her forehead that her hair always hid.

Nicki, on the other hand, had straight, shoulder-length brown hair that could never stay neat. She had bright blue eyes that flashed like lightning when she got annoyed or mad. Nicki was more into the boy sports like wrestling and martial arts; Nicki could take down anyone who tried to hurt her or Sydney. She also had a musical and artistic side, able to play guitar and sing like no other. Nicki had a crescent moon scar on the right side of her forehead that was always hidden by her side bangs. Adults always liked Sydney better not only because she was more polite, but also because Nicki was a huge prankster.

Sydney stumbled out of their room under the staircase before she went back in to drag out a half-sleeping Nicki. They began their morning routine. Sydney went to make breakfast while Nicki went to get the mail. In the pile were two letters, one addressed for each of the twins. Nicki walked into the kitchen dropped the mail almost in Dudley's eggs.

"Hey!" exclaimed their seriously chubby cousin. Nicki placed Sydney's letter into her sister's hand. "Mummy, the twits have letters! Who would send them something?"

Uncle Vernon noticed the seal on the letters, snatched them away, and tossed them into the fire. "Hey those were for us," Nicki cried out.

"Yeah, they even wrote that we lived under the stairs on the address," argued Sydney.

Vernon ignored the reactions of his agitated nieces and turned to his child. "Son, if you see those two with anymore letters I want you to tell me immediately."

"Yes Father."

Over the next few days, owls kept showing up delivering letters with the same seals until Uncle Vernon finally had enough and brought Aunt Petunia, Dudley, and the twins to a little cabin hours away from their house.

"You know that it's not only Dudley's birthday," Sydney pointed out while she and Nicki were trying to settle down on the cold floor of the cabin.

"Yeah, it's our birthday too," Nicki added.

"Nobody cares, so shut up. It's your fault that I'm here instead of my high-tech playroom with my friends." Nicki held back her tongue to avoid one of her uncle's temper tantrums.

Suddenly, the door blasted open and everybody shot up from where they were sleeping. A man who looked like he could eat a football team walked, or stomped, in. He had a beard that needed to be shaved badly and carried a pink umbrella—odd for such a Neanderthal-looking man. His voice boomed when he said, "I'm lookin' for Sydney and Nicole Potter. Would that be you two?" The twins nodded, afraid of angering the huge man. "I'm here tuh take you tuh Hogwarts. The name's Hagrid. Here are yuh letters." Hagrid handed the girls the letters and they opened them before Vernon could rip them.

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? But we're not magical," Sydney argued.

"Yeah, if anybody here is a witch, it's Dudley; he's got the evil part down."

Hagrid explained more before Nicki could get herself killed by their relatives. "Yuh parents were killed by an evil wizard named Voldemort when you were lil and we've been hidin you in the muggle world ever since."

Sydney butted in, "our parents weren't killed by some wizard. Uncle Vernon said our parents died in a car accident and they took us in."

Hagrid began to get angry as he sputtered, "The great James and Lily Potter… die in a… car accident!"

Vernon finally couldn't take it as he yelled, "They were freaks! And I'm not paying to send these girls to a school full of freaks run by some crackpot!"

Dudley jumped up and exclaimed, "Wait, if those two are going to an exclusive private school, then I have to go too. Get me in Mummy! Give me a letter you giant oaf!"

Hagrid ignored the whining boy and growled, "Never insult the name of Albus Dumbledore!" He turned to Dudley and zapped him in the butt. Suddenly, he had a little pig tail pop out and he started snorting. Vernon and Petunia freaked out and Hagrid took the opportunity to tell the girls to get their things because it would be a long time before they returned to their aunt and uncle.

**So now that you have read the first chapter, tell me what you think. Rate and review… pretty please with a cherry on top. Heehee just kidding… but still review. There will be more to come!**


	2. Diagon Alley

**Hey again y'all! I was super disappointed by the number of reviews that I received. I only got one—and I sent it to myself to make myself feel better about not getting any reviews. So pretty please read and review because I work really hard on my stories, spending precious class time pondering on what I should write. Do you know how hard it is to think about Harry Potter when you are taking 6 classes, 3 of them honors and 1 of them honors for the grade above you? Sorry, didn't mean to rant, just PLEASE review.**

_Chapter 2_

Sydney and Nicki walked out of the shack, trying to absorb what had happened in the past 15 minutes. They climbed onto the back of what looked like a regular motorcycle, wondering how they were going to get across the sea. Hagrid started the bike and they lifted off of the ground. Sydney hung on tight while Nicki was going no-handed. Once they reached the mainland, Hagrid rode the rest of the trip with the motorcycle firmly on the ground. They didn't stop driving until they reached a small inn called The Leaky Cauldron.

The twins and Hagrid walked in, welcomed by greetings of men to Hagrid. He seemed to recognize one of the men as he bellowed, "Quirrell, over here." A pale and shaky man wearing a turban turned around and gave a nervous smile, clearly intimidated by Hagrid's deep voice and large stature. Hagrid was oblivious to Quirrell's expression and said, "Girls, I'd like you ta meet Professor Quirrell. He's gonna be one of ya teachers at Hogwarts."

Sydney gave the professor a warm smile and extended her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Professor."

Quirrell stared at the hand like it was going to melt him. He wrung his hands nervously and said, "Ah, yyyes. A pppleasure indddeed."

Nicki glared this man up and down. There was just something off about him that gave Nicki goose bumps.

The professor quickly excused himself. Hagrid laughed and said, "Don't worry bout him. He's just a very wary person. Don't take it personally." Hagrid went to the innkeeper and paid for two rooms: one for him and one for the twins. The next morning, Hagrid woke the girls up bright and early to go get the wizarding necessities: wands, robes, pets, and books. They first had to stop at Gringotts Bank to get money out of their account to buy everything.

Everything went swimmingly and the twins got all the money they would need for the whole year, even though the twins wanted to cry when they saw the humungous amount of money in the vault. Hagrid made a stop though in another vault to pick up a small package that Hagrid claimed was top-secret information for Hogwarts. Soon they left the bank to begin their school shopping.

The first place Hagrid to the twins to was Ollivander's Wand Shop. Mr. Ollivander was a very nice old man who knew everything about wands. He was flattered that the famous Potter Twins were purchasing their very first wands in his shop. Hagrid left the girls, saying he had an important errand.

Mr. Ollivander first gave Sydney a 12.25-inch wand made of dogwood with a dragon heartstring core. Sydney held it, but suddenly the wand shot off and knocked down several wand boxes. He sighed and handed her another one, 10.75 inches of walnut with a phoenix feather core. This time Sydney was able to grow flowers in a vase. She held onto her beautiful light brown wand, never wanting to let it go. She was told that walnut is usually for highly intelligent witches and wizards.

Mr. Ollivander then gave Nicki an 11-inch pear wand with a unicorn hair core. Nicki accidentally knocked over the vase where Sydney had grown flowers. Mr. Ollivander handed the disappointed twin another wand, 10.25 inches of blackthorn also with a phoenix feather core. Nicki repaired the broken vase with her gorgeous black wand. She was told that blackthorn was common for warriors. Mr. Ollivander said that phoenix feather was a rare core and the only other wizard with that core was He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, making the wands "siblings".

The twins were confused but were interrupted by Hagrid knocking on the window. He was standing with a cage. Inside the cage was a beautiful snow-white owl named Hedwig. The girls were ecstatic and gave Hagrid a big hug.

Next, they visited Madam Malkin's Robe Shop. The girls walked in and got fitted for new robes, Madam Malkin gawking over the twins the whole time. After receiving the new robes, Sydney and Nicki walked into a hidden store that sold muggle clothes and electronics. The store was hidden because some wizards did not approve of having a muggle store in a wizard shopping area.

Sydney bought some tight t-shirts, tank tops, short skirts, shorts, flip-flops, bikinis, hoodies, sweaters, jeans, new winter coat, pair of sneakers, purple and pink pajama bottoms, fancy shirts, and purple Ugg boots. Nicki bought dark fitted t-shirts, shorts, hoodies, hats, jeans, sandals, two short skirts, black Converses, low cut boots, sweaters, new ski jacket, swimsuits, dark pajama bottoms, and tank tops. The girls were so happy to have actually decent clothes instead of clothes bought at thrift stores and yard sales. Sydney had a more preppy, girly style and Nicki had a skater girl, sporty style. Their clothes were never mixed up because Sydney preferred things in colors like purple, white, and pink while Nicki preferred blue, black, and red. The twins decided to wear some of their new clothes out: Sydney in her purple tank top and jean skirt with sparkly pink and black flip flops and Nicki in her navy t-shirt and jean shorts with black converses and dark blue camouflage newsboy cap.

The very moment that the twins and Hagrid walked out into Diagon Alley in the new clothes, Draco Malfoy happened to be getting fitted for his robes. He saw the beautiful blonde girl and immediately set his sights on her, not noticing the star mark on her forehead. Draco wanted this girl, and he was a boy who always got what he wanted.


	3. Arrival at Hogwarts

**Why doesn't anyone review my story? There is going to be some romance in this chapter, so read and review. I'm on spring break so my new chapters will be coming out more often. If you like it, or even if you don't, still review. It won't hurt my feelings… much. Still, a review is a review and bad reviews are better than no reviews. Oh, I almost forgot- I don't own Harry Potter and the only characters I own are Nicki, Sydney, Justin, and Cynthia.**

Sydney and Nicki stood at the front of the train station with Hagrid, who was receiving quite a number of strange looks about his height. Hagrid did not notice and leaned down to the twins. He whispered, "Girls, I'll see you soon, but I have two things to give you first." Hagrid made sure nobody was watching and conjured up a small box, handing it to Sydney. She opened the box to find a necklace with a genuine gold chain and an amethyst heart with _Sydney_ carved in cursive. Sydney beamed and put the necklace on immediately. Hagrid then conjured up a large box and gave it to Nicki. She immediately knew what was inside by the shape of the case; in the case was a light blue electric guitar with _Nicki_ written in black cursive. Nicki grinned in a way that could rival the smile of the Cheshire Cat.

The girls gave Hagrid a bear hug and he gave them their tickets. Sydney looked at her ticket in confusion and said, "But Hagrid, this ticket is for Platform 9 3/4. That can't be right." She looked up and Hagrid was gone. Nicki shrugged and the twins walked over to the area between Platforms 9 and 10. Sydney whispered to Nicki, "I got this. I'm better with adults than you are." Nicki shrugged again and Sydney walked over to the nearest station guard and held up her ticket.

Nicki heard him say something to Sydney and shoo her away. Nicki couldn't resist taking advantage of the opportunity. "Looks like little miss better-with-adults got rejected. What did he say?"

Sydney sighed and replied, "He thought I was pulling his leg and told me to go away."

Just as the twins were about to give up on finding the train, a mother with five red-haired children walked by saying, "Come on children, we have to get to Platform 9 ¾ before the Hogwarts Express leaves."

Sydney and Nicki ran over to the family while pushing their luggage carts. Sydney politely asked, "Excuse me ma'am, how do we… um… go in…"

The woman finished the question for Sydney. "How do you get onto the Platform, of course? You stay here with Ron; it's his first time too. Now watch Percy. Percy, go on ahead." The oldest sibling ran right through the wall between 9 and 10, followed by twins Fred and George, Ron, Nicki, Sydney, and Mrs. Weasley with Ginny.

Platform 9 ¾ was better than the girls could have ever imagined. Witches and wizards were everywhere, carrying pets and saying final goodbyes to their families. Sydney and Nicki boarded the train that led them to their new lives in the wizarding world.

Nicki and Sydney sat on the train in their own compartment, enjoying the views from the train. Ron and a boy with dark hair and a gap between his teeth poked their heads into the compartment. "Can we join you in here? All the other compartments are taken."

Nicki and Sydney said sure at the same exact time. The two boys sat down in the compartment.

Ron held out his hand and said, "I'm Ron, Ron Weasley. This is Neville Longbottem." Neville smiled shyly at the twins.

Sydney spoke up first. "My name is Sydney and this is my twin sister Nicki."

Nicki made a head gesture and said, "Sup."

Ron spoke up, "Wait a minute. Are you the famous Potter twins?"

The girls didn't deny the question.

Neville asked, "Can we see the scars?"

The twins shrugged and said sure. Sydney pushed aside her hair and Nicki lifted up her side bangs. Sure enough there were faint outlines of a star and a moon.

"Wicked," whispered Ron under his breath.

The candy lady wheeled by with her trolley and the twins insisted on buying some sweets for their new friends. At that moment, a boy and girl walked by the compartment holding hands. The dirty-blonde boy saw Sydney and smiled at her. The white-blonde girl saw who the boy was looking at, scowled at Sydney, and pulled him off.

Ron smirked and said, "Would you like me to tell Justin to ask you out, because I can since we happen to be best buds."

Sydney rolled her eyes and asked, "Who was that girl with him?"

Neville answered, "That's Cynthia Grace, second year, total snob. Justin could have been a second year too, but he has a weird birthday where he can be in either year."

Nicki couldn't help but tease her twin. "Oooh, Sydney's got a boyfriend." Sydney took out her wand and zapped Nicki in the leg. The rest of the ride was uneventful, but interesting.

The first year students followed Professor Minerva McGonagall up the stairs to the Great Hall. McGonagall stopped the crowd and said, "Wait here until I say so." She stepped alone into the Great Hall.

A snarky boy with the same colored hair as Cynthia announced, "So the rumors on the train are true; the Potter twins have come to Hogwarts." Every student around the twins started whispering and murmuring. "This is Crabbe and Goyle, and I'm Malfoy—Draco Malfoy." Ron snorted in laughter. Draco looked straight at the Weasley boy and said, "I don't need to ask for your name; red hair, and a hand-me-down robe, you must be a Weasley." Ron gazed down in embarrassment. Draco continued while mainly looking at Sydney. "There are good and bad wizarding families in the magic world. I can help you tell the difference."

Sydney started to decline the offer politely, but Nicki cut in. "I think we can tell the difference on our own, and I think I know exactly which group you belong to."

Draco scowled and started to say, "Why you little…" Before he could finish his retort, McGonagall walked up behind him and cleared her throat loudly. Draco frowned and stepped back.

McGonagall addressed the entire group of students and said, "Follow me and stay in line until your name is called."

The twins walked into the Great Hall and had their breaths taken away. The ceiling was enchanted to look like a starry night sky and ghosts were flying around. Then, an old moth-eaten hat started singing. Once the song was finished, McGonagall read off names.

"Hannah Abbott." A blonde girl walked up and sat on the stool. The hat proclaimed her a Hufflepuff.

"Justin Granger." Justin walked up and the hat was placed on his head.

"Gryffindor." Cynthia looked very disappointed in her boyfriend for not getting into Slytherin with her.

The Sorting Ceremony continued.

"Neville Longbottem." Neville nervously walked up to the platform.

"Gryffindor."

"Draco Malfoy." Draco walked up.

The hat had barely touched his head when it called out, "Slytherin."

"Sydney Potter." The entire Great Hall gasped. Sydney shyly walked up and sat on the chair. McGonagall placed the hat on her head.

The hat said, "Hmmm. The famous Sydney Potter: I see Ravenclaw's intelligence and wit, Hufflepuff's loyalty and dedication, but also Gryffindor's courage and leadership. Ah yes, courage. This one goes to Gryffindor." Sydney smiled and went to sit with the Weasley family.

"Nicole Potter." Sydney giggled at her sister's look of frustration from the use of her full name. Nicki walked up to the chair with a look of annoyance and excitement.

"Of course, the other Potter twin: ooh, this is a tough one. Brave, daring, and free-willed like a Gryffindor, but also cunning, ambitious, and determined like a Slytherin."

Nicki heard the last part and chanted in her head, "not Slytherin, not Slytherin."

The hat heard her thoughts and said out loud, "not Slytherin? Are you sure? You could do great things in Slytherin. No? Well then, this one goes to Gryffindor." Nicki's nervous face was replaced with a smile of relief as she went to join her sister and the Weasley family.

"Ronald Weasley." The hat was placed on Ron's red hair.

"Ah, another Weasley; this one goes to Gryffindor."

After the Sorting Ceremony, dinner appeared on the table. Over at the Slytherin table, Draco looked thoughtfully at Nicki, thinking about the common characteristics that they shared. Draco ignored the similarities and went back to his meal, thinking that Nicki would be too much like Pansy Parkinson.

While Nicki was eating, she noticed a man with long greasy black hair talking to Quirrell. She nudged Percy's elbow. "Percy, who's the grump next to Professor Quirrell?"

Percy looked and whispered, "Oh, that's Professor Snape, Potions teacher, but he's been aiming for Quirrell's position as teacher of Defense against the Dark Arts for years. Stay on his better side or your life here will be horrible." All of a sudden, a ghost appeared at each table. A male ghost appeared in the suckling pig on the Gryffindor table. The first years all yelped at the sudden appearance. Percy seemed unaffected as he said, "Hello Sir Nicholas. How was your summer?"

The head fully came out of the table to reveal a full body. The ghost said, "Dreadful. Once again I was rejected for the Headless Hunt."

Ron immediately had a light bulb moment. "I know you; you're Nearly-Headless-Nick."

The annoyed ghost replied, "I prefer Sir Nicholas, if you please."

The logical Sydney had to ask, "Nearly-Headless? How can you be nearly headless?"

The ghost answered by pushing his head to the side and showing the slight tissue connecting the head and the neck. The first years groaned in disgust. After dinner, all first years were escorted by the prefects of their houses to their houses' common room.

**I wanted to continue writing Hagrid's accent, but it got too annoying. Read and review because there is more coming up that involves Draco getting his butt handed to him on a silver platter. Also, there are pictures of Sydney's necklace and Nicki's guitar on my page.**


	4. Flying Lessons and Potions Class

**Hey y'all! I'm just gonna skip the part where I give an excuse for not updating sooner and get right to the story. Here is the twins' first official day at Hogwarts. Oh yeah: I don't own Harry Potter because if I did I would be hangin out with the stars of the movies 24/7.**

"Dudley I'm not making you anymore caviar biscuits," Nicki groaned as she was being pushed around on her bed.

Sydney sighed at her sister's laziness. "I'm not Dudley and we are not at home. Remember? We're at Hogwarts and we're going to be late for class if you don't move it."

Nicki waved her hand towards the door as she kept her position on the bed. "I'll catch up with you in a few minutes. Go ahead."

Sydney surrendered and walked out to the common room to find Justin waiting on one of the couches. Sydney walked over and asked, "Hi, I'm Sydney. Are you waiting on somebody?"

Justin nodded and said, "Nice to meet you. The name's Justin. I'm just waiting on Ron. I couldn't get his sleeping butt out of bed. You?"

"My sister refuses to get up, so I've given up on trying."

"How about we go on ahead and leave the two sleepers to find their way together?" Sydney agreed and the two of them went to Transfiguration class.

"Come on, we're gonna be late if you don't run!" Nicki hollered down to Ron. Both of them had overslept and then got lost in the numerous corridors. They ran into the classroom and were greeted by the laughter of their fellow first years.

Ron, out of breath from his run, exclaimed, "Good thing McGonagall's not here. She would've killed us for being late."

Suddenly, the cat sitting on the teacher's desk jumped down and transformed into an irritated Professor McGonagall. Nicki's face made it clear that she knew they were busted for tardiness.

Ron, however, was too busy gawking over the transformation. "That was wicked!" was Ron's outburst.

"Well thank you Mr. Weasley for that opinion. Now how about you and Miss Potter explain yourselves."

Nicki stuttered, "We got lost."

McGonagall took the excuse but said, "Well then maybe you should get yourselves a map, or maybe an alarm clock. Now please find your seats."

Nicki glared at her amused twin as she and Ron passed by Sydney and Justin. The two tardy students sat down at the desks across the aisle from the two grinning students. Class started and Sydney held back laughter as she watched Nicki attempting to write with a quill.

*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(

Sydney, Nicki, Ron, and Justin all sat near each other in Potions, waiting for Snape to show up. Sydney felt uncomfortable as Draco kept winking and staring at her. Suddenly, the dungeon door slammed and Snape hurried into the classroom.

His orders flew out like lightning and he glared at the entire room excluding the Slytherins. He laid out his rules in a voice that meant business. Snape then started taking roll. Once he reached Nicki's name, he looked over to the bored girl. He then saw Sydney sitting next to Nicki and thought how Sydney was practically a spitting image of Lily Evans Potter and Nicki had the same messy hair and troublemaking look in her eyes as James Potter. He kept his stern mask despite his hatred for James Potter.

"Ah yes, the Potter twins—our new _celebrities_." Snape added extra dislike on the last word. He finished roll call and started lecturing on the importance of Potions. Sydney listened intently to every word, eager to prove her inheritance of her mother's legendary intelligence. Nicki, however, rolled her eyes and placed her head in her hands, attempting to zone out as Snape droned on.

Suddenly, Snape slammed his hands down in front of Nicki, causing her to practically jump out of her seat. "Miss Potter, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Sydney's hand shot up, her violet eyes sparkling. Snape ignored the blonde girl, his attention focused on the steamed brunette.

"I don't know, sir." Nicki had to betray her rebellious side just to mutter that last word of respect.

Snape seemed pleased with Nicki's lack of knowledge. "Tut, tut—fame clearly isn't everything." Snape threw two more questions out at Nicki, neither of which Nicki knew but Sydney's hand stayed up in the air.

After her third "I don't know" Nicki got fed up and disrespectfully said, "Why don't you ask my sister? She clearly knows the answer." The Slytherins, especially Malfoy and his cronies tried not to laugh at the twin in fear of punishment from their Head of house.

Snape, fed up with Nicki's ignorance, grabbed a chair and sat in front of her in an extremely unfriendly way. "For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite." Nicki kept staring ignorantly and with dislike at Snape. He looked away from her for the first time and addressed the whole class. "Why aren't you all copying this down?" Everybody took out their quills and wrote down what he just said. Snape took a point away from Gryffindor for Nicki's "arrogance" and Nicki realized that she had never hated any other person more than her Potions professor.

*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(

Malfoy kept flirting with Sydney and insulting Ron. The twins also had the "pleasure" of meeting Cynthia, Malfoy's cousin. She hated Sydney for "throwing herself at Justy." Thursday morning, the owls flew in and dropped off numerous letters and packages. The twins were invited by Hagrid to visit on Friday afternoon and they also found out that the vault Hagrid had visited was robbed, but nothing was taken because Hagrid had taken what was in the vault.

Neville received a package from his grandmother with a little glass ball in it, something Sydney called a Remembrall, designed to tell its owner when he forgot something.

That afternoon was flying lessons for the first years. Draco tried to impress Sydney by bragging of his many accomplishments on a broom and in quidditch. This backfired because even though Sydney loved riding horses, she hated the thought of flying on a broom and the game of quidditch bored her. Nicki, however, couldn't wait to start flying. She felt like it was in her blood to fly on a broom.

At 3:30, flying lessons started. Madam Hooch ordered everybody to stand beside a broom, hold their hand over it, and say "up." Nicki's broom flew into her hand immediately and she was almost pushed back by its speed of obedience. Malfoy's came up a second later and he scolded it for its laziness. Justin's came up at a nice speed and so did Ron's, but Neville's hit him on the nose and Sydney's did nothing but roll around on the ground.

Madam Hooch told them all to mount their brooms, but then Neville's started to fly up. He tried to come back down, but he ended up falling, getting caught on a statue's spear, and falling to the ground. Madam Hooch took Neville and his broken wrist to the hospital wing, ordering that nobody fly or they would be immediately expelled.

Malfoy picked up Neville's Remembrall and studied it. "Looks like the clumsy oaf dropped this. I'm not surprised. He always had a habit of breaking things with two feet on the ground, not just in the air." He, Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson along with the rest of Slytherin broke into evil laughter.

Nicki, fed up with this arrogant jerk, stepped up and order, "Give it here Malfoy." Some of the Gryffindors oohed at Nicki's courage.

Malfoy just turned around and spit back, "No. I think I'll leave it somewhere for him to find." Malfoy winked at Sydney, stepped on the edge of his broom, circled around the group, and flew up into the sky easily. He sat on his broom and tossed up and down the Remembrall. "How about a tree?" Malfoy was about to toss the glass ball into the nearest oak. "What's the matter Potter? A bit out of your reach?"

Nicki instinctively mounted her broom. Sydney stepped up and said, "Nick, no way! You heard Madam Hooch. You'll be expelled. Besides, we never learned how to fly. Nicki ignored her sister and flew up to her smirking enemy just as easily as he had. Sydney shook her head and muttered, "What an idiot."

Nicki steadied herself and called out, "Hand it here, Malfoy or I'll knock you off your broom!"

Malfoy had lost his smirk as he observed the twin's flying skills. He tried to regain his superiority by yelling, "Catch it if you can Potter." Malfoy tossed the ball as far away as he could.

Nicki flew past him at the speed of light and effortlessly caught the ball, not going unnoticed by McGonagall though. Nicki floated down to the ground to be greeted by every non-Slytherin in the class. Even Sydney was impressed and wondered why Nicki stunk at horseback riding, but was a natural at flying. Crabbe and Goyle ran over to help their leader, who had descended in defeat, too stunned to speak.

"NICOLE POTTER!"

McGonagall ran out onto the field looking flustered. Pansy snickered, "Busted." One look from Nicki shut the pug-faced girl up. McGonagall took Nicki back towards the castle as Sydney stood there worrying about her sister's fate.

Crabbe and Goyle were busy dusting off Malfoy's robes. Goyle muttered, "Malfoy, I think she kicked your butt."

Malfoy glared at the stupid lug. "I noticed."

Crabbe asked, "Do you want us to take care of her?" as he cracked his knuckles.

Malfoy answered, "No. Did you see her on that broom? She was amazing and she looked so beautiful with her hair flying behind her face as she chased that ball." Malfoy stared after Nicki as Crabbe and Goyle looked at each other with confused faces.

Nicki kept trying to explain, but McGonagall shushed her every time. McGonagall took Nicki to the Charms classroom. "Professor Filch, may I borrow Wood for a moment?" A muscular brunette with a Scottish accent came out of the classroom. "Nicole Potter, this is Oliver Wood: captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team. Wood, I think I've found your new Seeker."

Nicki held her hands up. "Wait a minute, I never agreed to this."

McGonagall gave the girl a stern but excited look. "Potter, I saw you on that broom. I haven't seen flying that graceful and fast since your father. You must have inherited his quidditch skills, like your sister inherited your mother's brains."

Wood walked around inspecting Nicki. "Hmm, light, speedy, graceful. She's perfect."

Nicki agreed, eager to follow her father's footsteps and prove that she was better at something than Sydney.

**So, how was it? I left out some details cuz I don't feel like rewriting the whole book. Coming up next, well, you should know. Review and when you do answer this question: Should Hogwarts quidditch have a cheerleading team for each house? Review, but please do not leave any flames because I worked hard on this.**


	5. So That's Why the Corridor is Forbidden

**Did I say next weekend? I meant two weeks. Look, I'm sorry. I sat down Saturday night and wrote 150 words before my mom told me I had to go study another section of math. Then Sunday night I finally went back to finish and apparently the computer had frozen up and my mom closed down the computer without thinking to save my work. Then all week was cheer clinic for tryouts that were yesterday (I don't want to jinx myself by saying I dominated, so I won't say that). Here is the next chapter. And I still need people to leave reviews about Hogwarts cheerleading. PLEASE!**

**Disclaimer: the only characters I own are Sydney, Nicki, Justin and Cynthia.**

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"YOU, A SEEKER? You must be the youngest quidditch player, like, EVER!" Ron practically yelled to the entire student body on the stairs.

"At least in a hundred years," added Sydney, who of course knew about topics that she didn't even particularly enjoy.

"Oh don't be so bitter Syd; you inherited Mom's brains and looks. The least I can have is Dad's mad quidditch skills," Nicki pouted.

Justin, Ron, Sydney, and Nicki were so caught up laughing that they didn't notice that they missed their floor. They jumped off at the nearest stop, which happened to be on the forbidden corridor, after curfew.

Sydney froze when she heard Filch, the grouchy caretaker, pacing around the corridor. "Nick, how much trouble did Filch say he would get you in if he ever saw you messing around again?" Nicki, Fred, George, and Lee Jordan were all at the top of Filch's list of troublemakers and he especially hated Nicki's pranks and lack of discipline.

"Um, a month of detentions," Nicki guiltily admitted.

"We are so dead," Ron grumbled.

"Not yet," Justin responded courageously. He pushed the other three down a hall. At the end, there was a locked door and Filch was getting closer.

"Yep, we're dead. Bloody dead," Ron said pessimistically.

"Oh move over!" ordered Sydney. She pulled out her wand and said, "_Alohamora,_" to open the door.

The kids scrambled inside the room and closed the door before Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat, or even worse, Filch, could find them. Nicki kept her ear to the door until she heard Filch stomp away, frustrated that he couldn't get any Gryffindors in trouble. She nodded and let out a sigh of relief. Then they turned around and found a threat worse than Filch—a giant three-head dog. The four kids backed up quietly.

"Nice doggy," Ron attempted in a wimpy voice. The dog snarled and the kids ran out of there as quickly as possible.

"Did you see what I saw?" Sydney questioned.

"You mean my life flashing before my eyes?" Ron sniveled.

"No, I mean the trap door. That dog was guarding something. And I think I have an idea what it is."

**Oooh, a cliffhanger. Isn't Ron such a coward sometimes? Okay, I will update as often as possible, but that might only mean two chapters before summer break. I have exams and my dance recital coming up, so they will probably be kinda short. Remember to review and tell me whether or not Hogwarts should have cheerleaders. I really need your opinions to continue. I also left pics of what Nicki, Sydney, Justin, and Cynthia look like in general as kids (not exact pictures, just people who can fit the descriptions).**


	6. Broomsticks and Trolls

**Hey y'all! I was blown away by the number of readers so far this month. Over 30 readers in less than 2 weeks! And so many of them were not only from the US and UK, but also from countries like Ireland and Turkey. That is just plain awesomeness. I'm going global! **

**Well, from now on, I'm separating my chapters at the same spots as JK Rowling, who btw, owns the plot and all characters except Nicki, Sydney, Justin, and Cynthia. **

**Oh, one other thing before I get going: I MADE THE VARSITY FOOTBALL CHEERLEADING SQUAD! I guess my parents were right. I had no reason to worry. Now, here's an extra long chapter to make up for the short length of the last one.**

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"Man, what do they feed that dog?" Nicki exclaimed the next morning at breakfast.

"More importantly, what is the dog hiding? Didn't you notice the trap door last night? It must be protecting something, but I can't figure out what," Sydney reasoned to herself.

"I bet Hagrid knows. Oh and Nicki, heads up," Justin said out of the blue.

Nicki looked up and saw Hedwig fly in carrying a giant package. The snowy owl dropped the package right in front of the eager twin. Nicki started ripping open the paper and inside was the sleekest broom she had ever seen with _Nimbus2000_ written on the end in golden cursive. Nicki smiled and looked over toward McGonagall, who was smiling back and petting Hedwig. Sydney pulled out a note and handed it to her ecstatic twin while Justin and Ron, along with the rest of the Gryffindor boys, were too busing gaping over the broom. Nicki read the note, stuffed it into her pocket, grabbed the broom, and ran off toward the common room.

Nicki changed into her jeggings **(jean-leggings if you didn't know), **high-top converses,and a black hoodie and ran out toward the quidditch field at 7:00 that night. Oliver was there waiting for her.

"I see you got your broom. Now let me explain to you the rules of quidditch." Oliver opened the trunk next to him, which contained a large ball, two medium balls that were chained down, and in the top a tiny little golden ball. He picked up the large ball and tossed it to Nicki. "This is the Quaffle. The three Chasers try to get it into the opponents' three goals, which are guarded by the Keeper, that's me on the Gryffindor team." Oliver then unchained the two medium balls, which immediately tried to crush Nicki. Oliver spent a minute grabbing them and chaining them back up.

"What were those killer balls?" Nicki asked after she got over her initial fear of being pounded.

"Bludgers, nasty things. The two Beaters use bats to try to hit members of the opposing team with the Bludgers and protect members of their team from the Bludgers. The Weasley twins are our beaters. Now, the only ball you have to worry about is this." Oliver reached in and pulled out the little golden ball, which sprouted miniature wings as soon as it was out of the box. "This is the Snitch." He handed it to Nicki.

"I think I like this ball the best."

"Ah, you say that now, but you won't be saying it after the first match. They are faster than most brooms and they are almost impossible to see. The Seeker, that's you, tries to catch the Snitch, giving the team 150 points and ending the game. Have you got it all?" Oliver looked expectantly at Nicki.

"Yep: the Quaffle scores, the Bludgers hurt, and the Snitch finishes."

Oliver contemplated Nicki's summary for a moment before he turned back to Nicki. "Yeah that's pretty much it." Nicki and Oliver spent the rest of the time improving her Seeker skills by practicing with golf balls since it was too dark to practice with the Snitch.

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Halloween morning, the students woke to the smell of baking pumpkins and many other delicious treats. The day was also special because in Charms, Professor Flitwick decided to teach the first years how to make objects fly, something Sydney and Nicki were dying to try: Sydney had been practicing her wand motions for weeks to prepare, but Nicki only wanted to make people, especially Malfoy, hang upside down in the air. Flitwick put everybody in pairs: Nicki and Justin, Sydney and Ron, Draco and Goyle.

"Now, remember our swish-and-flick motion and repeat after me. _Wingardium Leviosa_." Everybody muttered the phrase but nobody seemed to have much luck. Ron did the correct motion and his spell sounded correct, but his feather did not move and he started to jerkily flick his wand back and forth.

Sydney stopped Ron and in a slightly bossy voice said, "All you're going to do is poke your eye out. It's _Wingardium Lev__**io**__sa, _not _Levio__**sa**_."

"Well if you're so clever, why don't you do it?" Sydney flipped her hair, pointed her wand at the feather, and chanted the phrase. Soon Sydney's feather was flying toward the ceiling and Sydney was smiling proudly. Professor Flitwick congratulated Sydney and awarded points to Gryffindor. Ron slumped in his seat grumpily.

After class, Ron walked out with Justin, Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, and Neville and mocked Sydney and her "know-it-all" attitude. Sydney was walking right behind with Nicki and then ran past the boys while crying after she heard Ron's insults. Nicki came up, glared at Ron, slapped him in the face, called him a jerk, and then ran after her crying twin.

Justin looked at Ron, who was busy rubbing his face to make the pain go away, and said, "You deserved that. Sydney is a brilliant witch and she does not deserve your taunting." Justin ran off after Nicki to go apologize to Sydney for Ron's behavior. However, Sydney had disappeared and even Nicki could not find her.

That evening at dinner, Nicki, Justin, and Ron heard Parvati Patil telling her best friend Lavender Brown that Sydney was crying in the girls' bathroom and would not let anybody talk to her. Nicki shoved Ron and growled at him, "Now you've done it. Nobody disses my sister and makes her cry and gets away with it."

Nicki was about to give Ron a serious black eye when Quirrell burst through the doors and screamed, "TROOOOOOLLLLLL! In the dungeon! A TROLL!" The entire Great Hall silenced and stared at him. "Just thought I should let you know." Quirrell fainted and the entire Great Hall broke into chaos and screaming.

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore bellowed. "Prefects, escort the students to their common rooms in an orderly fashion immediately." While Percy led the Gryffindors to their common room, Nicki grabbed Justin and Ron and pulled them away from the group toward the girls' bathroom.

Nicki pointed her finger at Ron and threatened in an angry and accusatory voice, "This is all your fault. If you hadn't teased Syd, then she wouldn't be crying and in danger of troll attack. You are fixing this mess if I have to bite off your hands."

Meanwhile, Sydney walked out of her stall and wiped her tears when she saw a giant troll staring at her. She squealed and ran back into the stall. Sydney was too frightened to remember any defensive spells.

Nicki, Justin, and Ron heard a bloodcurdling shriek come from the bathroom. The three ran in and Nicki did the first thing that came to mind: yell "Hey ugly!" The troll turned toward the voice and roared. "Quick, I'll distract him while you guys help Sydney."

The boys didn't argue as Nicki maneuvered back and forth, barely avoiding the troll's club. Justin and Ron tried to help Sydney, but she was trapped from her knees down in a pile of rubble. Nicki got momentarily distracted and the troll slammed her into the wall with his club.

"Nicki!" Ron called out and he dropped Sydney's arm and ran toward Nicki as the troll was about to crush her with his club.

"Ron." Sydney yelled. "Swish and flick."

Ron pulled out his wand and bellowed, "_Wingardium Leviosa!_" The troll's club floated out of his hand and he looked around for it. Ron was holding the club in the air by magic. Ron dropped the club and it hit the troll on the head, knocking him out. The troll swayed and fell on the floor.

Justin was finally able to get Sydney out of the rubble and Ron ran over to Nicki, who had a lump forming on her forehead and cuts on her lip and her eyebrow. "Strike three. He's out," Nicki panted with a small smile.

"Nice job with the spell Ron; and I'm sorry for being so bossy. I was really only trying to help with your spell," Sydney said apologetically as she limped over with Justin's arm supporting her.

"It's fine. I'm sorry for calling you a know-it-all."

Ron helped Nicki up as McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrell ran through the bathroom doors. "My heavens!" McGonagall cried out as she saw the state of the bathroom and the four students standing in it. "What happened here?" she demanded.

Ron and Nicki opened their mouths to answer, but Sydney cut them off. "It's my fault Professor."

"Miss Potter?" McGonagall asked in a shocked voice.

"I heard about the troll and I thought I could deal with it, but I couldn't. My sister and the boys came down to look for me. It's not their fault." Nicki could not believe that her sister had just lied to a teacher.

"Miss Potter I am very disappointed in your judgment. Five points from Gryffindor. But for the other Miss Potter, Mr. Weasley, and Mr. Granger: five points for Gryffindor each. I will be sure to inform Professor Dumbledore of your actions. But next time be more careful. You all could have been killed." McGonagall and Snape led the students out as Quirrell stayed behind to take care of the troll. The four students were friends after that experience.

**So… what did you think? I love how Quirrell just runs in and faints in the movie. I read about a writer on Fanfiction who was bored in class and texted her boyfriend telling him that. Soon he ran into her classroom and pretended to be Quirrell by screaming "Troll in the dungeon! Troll! Just thought you should know." And then he pretended to faint. If someone did that in my class, I would be laughing so much I would not be able to breathe. So I'll see you all next time. And please review.**


	7. Quidditch

**Hey y'all! I'm so done with school. I had five days of exams and I had to study for my Honors Algebra 2 with Trig exam during my dress rehearsal for my dance recital when I should have been helping out the little kids like I do every year . Oh well, I can still be a backstage assistant during the recital. The head of the dance school has been putting me in the recital program as a "backstage helper" for the past two years, but nobody is going to recognize me because my hair is about 5 to 6 inches longer than it used to be. My mom didn't even recognize me in my pictures this year. So, enough ranting on my end. Let's get this started. I'm going to forget about the Hogwarts cheerleading teams idea because people either voted "definitely not" or "if it is absolutely necessary". **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and all characters belong to J.K. Rowling except for Sydney, Nicki, Justin, and Cynthia.**

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"Really Syd? I am preparing for my first quidditch match and you get me _a book?_" Nicki crossed her arms and looked at her twin in disbelief.

"It's a book that will help you. It's called _Quidditch throughout the Ages_ and it's all about the game. Honestly, did you really think that I was stupid enough to give you a book that wouldn't help you? I know you better than that."

Nicki's mouth formed an O and she took the book, but still handling it like she was afraid it would poison her. "It better have pictures in it."

The twins walked out of the library toward Gryffindor Tower to meet Justin and Ron. Nicki was so busy reading the book that she ran into Professor Snape. She looked up and gulped in fear.

"Maybe if you spent less time worrying about quidditch and more time on my homework, you might do better in my class, Miss Potter. Fifteen points from Gryffindor for taking library books outside of the library and for deliberately running into your teacher."

Sydney stood up for her twin. "Sir, I've taken books out of the library before and Madam Pince has never had a problem with it."

"Five more points from Gryffindor for ignorance. I think it would be best if you learned to hold your tongue, unless you want Gryffindor to lose more house points." Snape limped off down the hall, his dark robes flowing behind him.

Nicki glared at her teacher in disgust. "He seems very suspicious. Maybe he's the one helping Voldemort. He's already evil enough."

"Come on Nick, get real. Snape is a professor, not a bad guy—even though he had the nerve to call me stuck-up." Nicki grabbed Sydney's arm and pulled her down the corridor where Snape went.

Later that night while Sydney was checking their Charms homework, Nicki asked Ron to come with her to get her book back from Snape. He made up a quick excuse to get out of facing his most intimidating professor. Nicki grunted and stormed out of the common room. Justin snickered and called the redhead a wimp.

Sydney glanced over at Justin and sighed. She really liked him but he just didn't think of her as more than a friend. Just as Sydney turned back to the homework, Justin looked over at the blonde twin and thought about how cute she looked when she was focusing on school. He loved how she crinkled her nose when she was taking notes or doing homework. Justin shook those thoughts out of his head; Cynthia was his girlfriend and besides, Sydney would never think of him that way. She was one of the Girls who Lived: boys swarmed her—even the upperclassmen.

Meanwhile, Nicki headed toward the staffroom and started to open the door when she recognized Flitwick and Snape's voices. She opened up the door just a crack and saw Snape all bloody and Flitwick caring to his wounds. Nicki caught the words "three heads" come from Snape's mouth. She tried to close the door quietly to avoid discovery, but it was too late.

"POTTER!" Snape roared. He tried to hide his leg quickly.

Nicki gulped in fear. "I just came to see if I could have my book back."

"GET OUT! _OUT!_" Nicki ran like her life depended on it, which it did since she evoked the wrath of Snape.

Nicki burst into the common room and collapsed on one of the couches. Sydney went over to cool down her sister while Justin went to get her a glass of water.

Ron stood there dumbly and asked, "So did you get the book?"

Nicki sat up and sarcastically replied, "Yeah, I got it back and then I felt like running for dear life back to the common room."

Ron did not pick up on the sarcasm and questioned, "Great. So where's the book?"

Nicki looked at him in disbelief while Sydney almost yelled, "Does she look like she has the book?"

Ron looked like an idiot while he said, "But she just said," but was cut off when Nicki stood up, walked over to the boy, and crossed her arms while looking him up and down.

"I wonder how far I could drop-kick you right now." Ron shut up and was saved by Justin bringing in the water for Nicki. She relayed what she saw and all four of them sat in silence. Thoughts about the dog and suspicions about Snape were thrown out before everybody turned in for the night.

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The next morning was bright and cold and Nicki was so nervous and excited that she couldn't eat. Sydney managed to get some food into Nicki before she headed to the locker room. Up in the bleachers, Sydney, Ron, and Justin joined Neville, Seamus, and Dean in the top row. They had painted a huge banner that said "Give 'em a kick Nick!" Dean painted a Gryffindor lion under the words and Sydney charmed it so the paint flashed different colors.

Meanwhile in the locker room, Nicki and the rest of the team changed into their scarlet red quidditch robes. The Weasley twins commented that with the Slytherin team in green robes, the quidditch field would look like Christmas. Nicki asked one of the older players, chaser Angelina Johnson, to tie up her hair for her. Angelina happily obliged and not only tied up Nicki's messy brown hair in a high ponytail, she also used her wand to add some bright red and gold streaks for team spirit. Angelina's almost-black hair was too dark for the streaks to look good, but Nicki's hair was the perfect shade. Wood cleared his throat for silence.

"Okay men," he said.

"And women," Angelina added.

"And women," Wood agreed. "This is it."

"The big one," said Fred.

"The one we've all been waiting for," said George.

"We know Oliver's speech by heart," Fred whispered to Nicki, "we were on the team last year."

"Shut up you two," Wood ordered. "This is the best team Gryffindor's had in years. We're going to win. I know it."

He glared at the team as if to say, "Or else."

"Right. It's time. Good luck all of you."

Nicki followed Fred and George out of the locker room onto the field where she and the rest of the team were greeted by loud cheers.

Madam Hooch stood in the middle of the field, waiting for the two teams. "Now I want a nice fair game, all of you," she stated once they were all gathered around her. Nicki noticed that she seemed to be speaking particularly to the sixth year Slytherin Captain, Marcus Flint. Nicki was sure that Flint had troll blood in him with his ugly and deformed face.

Out of the corner of her eye, Nicki noticed the "Give 'em a kick Nic!" banner and immediately felt like a real Gryffindor. Madam Hooch told the teams to mount their brooms and then blew her whistle. Fifteen brooms rose in the air. They were off.

"And the Quaffle is immediately taken by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor—what an excellent chaser that girl is, and rather attractive too—"

"JORDAN!"

"Sorry Professor."

Fred and George's friend Lee Jordan was doing the commentary for the match, closely watched by Professor McGonagall.

"And she's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, a good find of Oliver Wood's, last year only a reserve—back to Johnson—no, the Slytherins have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes—Flint flying like an eagle up there—he's going to sc- no, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor keeper Wood and the Gryffindors take the Quaffle—that's chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and—OUCH—that must have hurt, hit in the back of the head by a Bludger—Quaffle taken by the Slytherins—that's Adrian Pucey speeding off toward the goal posts, but he's blocked by a second Bludger—sent his way by Fred or George Weasley, can't tell which—nice play by the Gryffindor beater, anyway, and Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes—she's really flying—dodges a speeding Bludger—the goal posts are ahead—come on Angelina—keeper Bletchley dives—misses—GRYFFINDORS SCORE!"

Gryffindor cheers filled the cold air, mixed with boos from the Slytherins. Hagrid went to join Sydney and her friends up in the top row and asked if there was any sign of the Snitch. Sydney was relieved to say no and that Nicki was able to stay out of trouble. Hagrid raised his binoculars and looked up at Nicki, who was gliding over the game watching for the Snitch.

Before the game, Wood had told her, "Keep out of the way until you catch sight of the Snitch. We don't want you attacked before you have to be." When Angelina scored, Nicki did a few flips with her broom to show her excitement. Then she went back to tracking the Snitch. The only flash of gold that she had seen was a reflection from one of the Weasley's watches. At one point, a Bludger decided to come pelting in Nicki's direction like a cannonball, but she dodged it and Fred came chasing after it.

"All right there Nick?" Fred yelled as he beat the Bludger toward Flint.

"Slytherin in possession," Lee Jordan said, "Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Weasleys, and chaser Bell, and speeds toward the—wait a moment—was that the Snitch?"

A murmur ran through the crowd as Pucey dropped the Quaffle, too busy looking over his shoulder at the flash of gold that had passed his left ear. Nicki saw it. In a rush of excitement she dived downward after the streak of gold. Slytherin seeker Terence Higgs had seen it too. Neck and neck they hurtled toward the Snitch—all the chasers seemed to have forgotten what they were supposed to be doing as they hung in midair to watch. Nicki was faster than Higgs—she could see the little round ball, wings fluttering, darting up ahead—she put on an extra spurt of speed—

WHAM! A roar of rage echoed from the Gryffindors below—Flint had taken one of the Slytherin beater's bats and slammed the Bludger straight at Nicki on purpose, and her broom spun off course, Nicki holding on for dear life.

"FOUL!" screamed the Gryffindors, especially those in the top row.

Madam Hooch spoke angrily to Flint and then ordered a free shot at the goal posts for Gryffindor. But in all the confusion, of course, the Golden Snitch had disappeared from sight again.

Lee Jordan was finding it difficult not to take sides. "So—after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating—"

"Jordan!" growled Professor McGonagall.

"I mean, after that open and revolting foul—"

"_Jordan, I'm warning you—"_

"All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinnet, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor still in possession."

Just as Nicki dodged another Bludger, which spun dangerously past her head, her broom gave a sudden, frightening lurch. For a split second, she thought she was going to fall. She gripped the broom tightly with her hands, knees, and feet. She had never felt anything like that. It happened again, the broom trying to buck her off like a bull, which Nimbus Two Thousands were not supposed to do. Nicki tried to turn back toward Wood, hoping he would notice the reckless broom and call a timeout—but then she realized that her broom was totally out of her control. She couldn't turn or direct the broom and it just kept zigzagging through the air, making occasional violent moves that almost caused her to fall off.

Lee kept commentating. "Slytherin in possession—Flint with the Quaffle—passes Spinnet—passes Bell—hit hard in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose—only joking, Professor—Slytherins score—oh no…"

The Slytherins cheered, but nobody noticed Nicki's broom acting weird. "Don't know what Nicki thinks she's doing, but if I didn't know any better, I'd say she lost control of her broom…but she can't have…" Hagrid mumbled as he watched her through his binoculars.

Suddenly, people started pointing up at Nicki all over the stands. Her broom had started to roll over and over with her barely able to hold on. The crowd gasped as the broom gave a wild jerk and Nicki swung off it. She dangled from the broom with one hand holding her up.

"Did something happen to it when Flint knocked her?" Seamus whispered.

"Impossible," Sydney murmured, her voice shaky from fear of losing her sister. "Only powerful Dark magic can interfere with a broomstick—no student could do that to a Nimbus Two Thousand." Sydney snatched Hagrid's binoculars and looked frantically at the crowd.

"What are you doing?" moaned Ron, whose face had lost all its color.

Sydney gasped and handed the binoculars to Justin, but were immediately stolen by Ron. "Look over at Snape." Snape was in the middle of the stands opposite them. He had his eyes fixed on Nicki and was muttering nonstop under his breath. "He's doing something—jinxing the broom," Sydney whispered.

"What should we do?" Justin asked in a concerned voice while Ron was busy yelling at Madam Hooch to look over at Nicki.

"Leave it to me. I'm going to do something that I would normally never do against a teacher, but considering that my sister is about to be killed by a psycho broom, I'll make an exception." Sydney disappeared before Justin could say another word.

Ron still had the binoculars focused on Nicki. Her broom was vibrating so hard that it was impossible for her to hang on much longer. The whole crowd was on its feet, watching, terrified as the Weasleys flew up to try and pull Nicki safely onto one of their brooms, but it was no good—every time they got near her, the broom would go even higher. They dropped lower and circled beneath her, obviously hoping to catch her if she fell. Flint seized the Quaffle and scored five times without anyone noticing.

"Come on Syd," Ron muttered desperately.

Sydney had fought her way across the stand where Snape stood, and was now racing along the row behind him. She was so distracted that she didn't even stop to apologize when she knocked Professor Quirrell headfirst into the front row. Reaching Snape, she kneeled down, pulled out her wand, and whispered, "_Wiccarnum Inflamare."_ Bright purple flames **(Sydney's favorite color) **shot from her wand onto the hem of Snape's black robes. It took about thirty seconds for Snape to realize that he was on fire. A loud yelp told Sydney that she had done her job. Scooping the fire off him into a little jar in her pocket, she scrambled back along the row—Snape would never know what had happened.

Up in the air, Nicki noticed the purple flames and an unmistakable head of golden blonde hair. Even though she was in a near-death situation, Nicki laughed at Snape jumping around like a coward. She thought to herself, "Did my sister just sabotage a teacher? I'm so proud of her." Nicki was able to climb back on her broom.

"Neville, you can look now," Justin said. Neville had been sobbing into Hagrid's jacket for the last five minutes.

Nicki was speeding toward the ground. When she was steady enough, she slowly stood up on her broom, still reaching for the Snitch. Unfortunately, she put too much weight on her front foot and went tumbling off her broom onto the sand. The crowd gasped when they saw her clap her hand to her mouth as though she was about to hurl. Nicki coughed and something gold fell into her hands.

"NICKI POTTER'S CAUGHT THE SNITCH!" Lee screamed into the microphone as Nicki waved the Snitch over her head.

"She didn't _catch_ it, she nearly _swallowed_ it!" Flint hollered for twenty minutes, but it made no difference—Nicki hadn't broken any rules and Lee Jordan happily shouted the results—Gryffindor had won with one hundred and seventy points to sixty points.

Later that day, Nicki, Sydney, Ron, and Justin were in Hagrid's hut talking about the game. "It was Snape," Justin explained, "Sydney and I saw him. He was cursing your broomstick, muttering, and he wouldn't take his eyes off you."

"Rubbish," replied Hagrid, who had been completely oblivious to what happened in the stands next to him. "Why would Snape do something like that?"

Nicki decided to mention what she had seen the previous night. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog on Halloween. It bit him. We think he was trying to steal whatever it's guarding."

Hagrid dropped the teapot. "How do you know about Fluffy?"

"_Fluffy?"_

"Yeah—he's mine—bought him off some chap I met in the pub last year—I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the—" He clapped a hand over his mouth before he could finish the sentence.

"The what?" Sydney inquired.

"Now, don't ask me anymore. That's top secret," Hagrid said gruffly.

"But Snape's trying to steal it."

"Rubbish. Snape's a Hogwarts professor; he'd do nothing of the sort."

"So why did he just try to kill Nicki?" cried Sydney. Everyone in the room stared at her as Sydney Potter, the girl who thought all teachers were saints, accuse Professor Snape of attempted murder.

"Who are you and what have you done with my twin sister?" Nicki asked in shock.

Sydney ignored the stares and the blunt question. "I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid; I've read all about them. You've got to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn't blinking at all, I saw him!"

"I'm telling you, you're wrong!" Hagrid cried out hotly. "I don't know why Nicki's broom acted like that, but Snape wouldn't try and kill a student! Now, listen to me, all four of you—you're meddling in things that don't concern you. It's dangerous. I want you to forget all about that dog—"

Ron interrupted Hagrid before he could finish. "It's kind of hard to forget something that tried to eat us!" Nicki shut up the redhead by giving him a Gibbs-slap **(if you don't watch NCIS, a Gibbs-slap is a head smack on the back of the head that causes the receiver to wince)**.

"As I was saying, I want you to forget that dog, and you forget what it's guarding, that's between Professor Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel—"

"Aha!" Sydney cried out while jumping out of her seat, "So there's someone named Nicholas Flamel involved."

Hagrid scolded himself for revealing too much by hitting himself on the head and repeatedly saying, "Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

The four went back to the common room discussing Nicholas Flamel. Little did they know, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were waiting outside the corridor. Nicki scowled and Ron's face started to turn as red as his hair. Malfoy swaggered over to Nicki, who was still in her tight fitting Quidditch uniform. "I must say Nicole your seeking today was surprisingly brilliant." He wiggled his eyebrows in a flirtatious manner.

Nicki decided that enough was enough. It was time to fight fire with fire. She took out her wand and yelled, "_Locomotor Mortis!_" Draco's legs were immediately locked together. The twins and their friends walked off laughing.

Draco chuckled to himself as he promised, "Ooh, feisty. I like feisty. Nicole Potter, you will be mine."

**Hey guys! I changed up the ending cuz an anonymous reviewer said that what Nicki originally did was just wrong. Oh and just for future reference, Nicki is not a spoiled brat, Ron is not an idiot, Draco is still a playboy even though he mainly focuses on Nicki, and everybody has a life, a role, and is not perfect. I turned on anonymous reviews, just please NO FLAMES!**


	8. The Mirror of Erised

**Don't kill me ***_**cowers behind computer screen***_**! I meant to update weeks ago but I'm up in Cape Cod for the summer and when we were shipping up our books and movies, Mom wouldn't let me bring the ****Sorcerer's Stone.**** She said no because she assumed that all Harry Potter books were huge and she said I could borrow it from the library up here. So I get here and my mom injures her foot a few days later and every time I asked to go to the library, she said maybe another day. Then my dad gets up for his vacation week and when he goes to the library, they said that the book wouldn't be in for a few days. I just got a copy of the book today. I'm really sorry, but in exchange for your patience, I turned on anonymous reviews—just don't give me any flames. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter books, blah, blah, blah, and the only characters I own are Nicki, Sydney, Justin, and Cynthia.**

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It was almost Christmas. One mid-December morning, Hogwarts awoke to find itself encased in a layer of snow that was several feet thick. The lake was frozen solid and Fred, George, and of course, Nicki were punished for charming several snowballs to follow Quirrell around, bouncing off the back of his turban. The entire school couldn't wait for the holidays to start and for vacation to begin.

While the Gryffindor common room and the Great Hall had roaring fires, the drafty corridors were icy and a stinging wind rattled the classroom windows. Snape's classes in the dungeons were the worst because the students' breaths were like foggy clouds and the hot cauldrons didn't warm them up.

The cold weather and the outcome of the Quidditch match made Malfoy's attitude even frostier and bitterer. One Potions class he said, "I do feel sorry for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home."

He was looking directly at the Potter twins when he said this. Crabbe and Goyle snickered. Sydney, who was measuring out powdered spine of lionfish, not only ignored them but also held back Nicki from beating the Slytherins within inches of their lives. Disgusted that Slytherin had lost the Quidditch match, Malfoy had attempted to get everyone to laugh at the twins' lack of a proper family, but he realized that nobody found him funny because everybody was too impressed with Nicki's amazing ability to stay on her bucking broom and Sydney's excellence in academics that kept her at the top of the class, right above Malfoy. So Malfoy, jealous and furious, returned to his potion while grumbling to himself.

Truth was that the twins weren't going back to Privet Drive until summer vacation. McGonagall had come around the previous week to make a list of students who planned on staying for the holidays, and Sydney signed herself and Nicki up at once. The twins didn't feel bad at all; anything had to be better than another Christmas with the Dursley family. Ron and his brothers were staying too because their parents were going to visit Charlie in Romania.

When the group left the dungeons after Potions, they found a large fir tree completely blocking the corridor ahead. Two giant feet sticking out the bottom and the really loud puffing told them Hagrid was behind it.

"Hey Hagrid. Do you want some help?" Ron asked while sticking his head through the branches.

"Nah, I'm fine. Thanks Ron."

"Would you mind moving out of the way?" Malfoy coldly drawled behind them. "Trying to earn some extra money Weasley? Hoping to be gamekeeper when you leave Hogwarts? I suppose that hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to that pile of wood your family's used to."

Ron dove at Malfoy before even Nicki could react, but also as Snape came up the stairs.

"WEASLEY!"

Ron let go of the front of Malfoy's robes.

"He was provoked Professor Snape," Hagrid said as he stuck his huge hairy face out from behind the tree. "Malfoy was insultin' his family."

"Be that as it my, fighting is against school rules Hagrid," Snape said silkily. "Five points from Gryffindor Weasley, and be grateful it isn't more. Move along all of you."

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle roughly pushed past the tree, scattering needles everywhere and smirking.

"I'll get him," said Ron, grinding his teeth at Malfoy, "one of these days I'll get him—"

"Don't worry Ron. When that day comes, Malfoy will be dead because I will already have gotten him for messing with all of us," Nicki assured while keeping a calm tone in her voice and holding a still hand on Ron's shoulder.

"I hate them both," said Justin, "Malfoy and Snape."

"Come on, cheer up, it's nearly Christmas," Hagrid reminded them joyfully. "Tell yeh what, come with me an' see the Great Hall, looks a treat."

So the four of them followed Hagrid and his tree off to the Great hall where McGonagall and Flitwick were busy with the Christmas decorations.

"Ah Hagrid, the last tree—put it in the far corner would you?"

The hall looked amazing. Festoons of holly and mistletoe hung all around the walls, and no less than twelve towering Christmas trees stood around the room, some sparkling with tiny icicles and some glittering with hundreds of candles.

"How many days you got left until yer holidays?" Hagrid asked.

"Just one," answered Justin. "And that reminds me—Syd, Nic, Ron, we've still got about thirty minutes before lunch. We should be in the library."

"Oh yeah, you're right," said Ron, tearing his and Nicki's attention away from the golden bubbles blossoming out of Flitwick's wand as he trailed them over the branches of the new tree.

"The library?" questioned Hagrid, following the kids out of the hall. "Just before the holidays? Bit keen, aren't yeh?"

"Oh we're not working," Nicki told him brightly. "Ever since you mentioned Nicolas Flamel we've been trying to find out who he is."

"You _what_?" Hagrid looked shocked. "Listen here—I've told yeh—drop it. It's nothin' to you what that dog's guardin'."

"We simply want to know who Nicolas Flamel is, that's all," Sydney replied calmly.

"Unless you fell like telling us and saving us the trouble of going through all those books and pestering you with more questions?" Nicki pressed, eager to find a shortcut past all of that hard work. "We must've been through hundreds of books and we can't find him anywhere. Come on, just give us a hint. I know I've seen his name somewhere."

"I'm sayin' nothin'," Hagrid insisted flatly.

"Just have to find out on our own then," said Justin. The four kids left a disgruntled Hagrid and hurried off to the library.

They had been searching almost every book in the library for Flamel's name ever since Hagrid accidentally mentioned him. How else were they going to find out what Snape planned on stealing? The problem was that the four didn't know what Flamel did that made him book-worthy. He wasn't in _Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century, Notable Magical Names of Our Time, Important Magical Discoveries, _or _A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry._ After looking through dozens of books, they still had tens of thousands more that Flamel could be in.

Sydney took out a list of subjects and titles she already decided to search while Ron and Justin strode off down a row and started to pull out random books. Nicki ended up wandering toward to Restricted Section. She had already considered multiple times that Flamel could be mentioned in there. Unfortunately, students needed a note with a teacher signature to look in a restricted book, and not even Sydney would be able to get one. These books contained powerful Dark Magic never taught at Hogwarts. Books like these were only checked out by older students studying advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"What are you looking for young lady?"

"Nothing. Just admiring the, uh, organization. Yep, it's alphabetized alright," Nicki laughed nervously as she pretended to check a shelf full of books that would take her a lifetime to read.

The librarian, Madam Pince, brandished a feather duster at Nicki.

"You'd better get out then. Go on—out!"

Wishing she could've thought of a more believable story, Nicki left the library. She mentally slapped herself; coming up with excuses and lies to get out of trouble was one of her specialties. All this reading and lack of sleep was really affecting the area of her brain that came up with pranks and lies. Nicki, Ron, Justin, and Sydney had already agreed not to ask Madam Pince where they could find Flamel. They were sure she could tell them but not without the risk of Snape finding out what they were up to.

Nicki waited in the corridor to see if the other three had found anything, but she wasn't very optimistic. They had been looking for two weeks but only in the time between lessons, so it wasn't surprising that they hadn't found anything. What they needed was a long search without Madam Pince watching over their shoulders.

Five minutes later, Sydney, Ron, and Justin joined her, shaking their heads in defeat. The four went off the lunch.

"You will keep looking while I'm gone, right?" asked Justin. "And owl me if you find anything."

"Maybe you could ask your parents if they know who Flamel is," said Ron. "It'd be safe to ask them."

"Very safe considering they're both dentists," assured Justin.

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Once the holidays started, the twins and Ron were having too much fun to think about Flamel. Even Sydney got her nose out of the books and relaxed with her sister and her friend. Both the twins and Ron each had their empty dorm rooms all to themselves and the common room was far more vacant than normal, so they got the good sofa chairs by the fire. They sat by the hour eating anything they could toast over the fireplace: bread, hot dogs, English muffins, and especially marshmallows. Ron and Nicki spent hours plotting ways to get Malfoy expelled, which were fun to plan even if they had no chance of working.

Ron also taught Nicki wizard chess, which was exactly like muggle chess except the pieces were alive, making it more like directing soldiers in battle than a board game. Sydney refused to play because she called it barbaric, but that was the reason Nicki enjoyed it so much. Secretly, Sydney was glad that Nicki found a constructive way to use her craftiness.

Despite Ron's use of his grandfather's old chessmen, he still won every time against Nicki who used chessmen she borrowed from Seamus Finnigan. Then again, Nicki was still new to the game and the pieces kept yelling different bits of advice at her, which ended up confusing the girl.

On Christmas Eve, the three kids went to bed looking forward to the next day for the food and the fun. However, the twins didn't expect any presents, as was always the treatment they got from the Dursley family. When they woke early the next morning, however, they put on their bathrobes and rushed to the common room and the first things they saw were small piles of packages waiting to be opened. Ron was sitting by the fire waiting for the girls.

"Merry Christmas Ron!" the twins greeted in unison.

"Merry Christmas," Ron responded sleepily. "Look you got presents."

"We did?" they cheered as they ran down the stairs from the common room's balcony outside the dormitories.

"What did you expect, turnips?" asked Ron, turning to his own pile which was about the same size as the twins' combined pile.

Nicki picked up the top present which was wrapped in thick brown paper and _For Sydney and Nicki, From Hagrid_ was scrawled on the package. Inside were two roughly cut wooden flutes that Hagrid had obviously whittled himself. Nicki blew hers—it sound kind of like an owl.

Sydney grabbed the second parcel, which was very small and contained a note.

_We received your messages and enclose your Christmas present. From Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia._ Taped to the note was a single fifty-pence piece.

"That's friendly," Nicki muttered sarcastically.

"Hey it's more then we usually get," Sydney shrugged.

Ron was fascinated by the coin.

"Weird! What a shape! This is money?" Ron exclaimed as he gawked over the fifty-pence.

"You can keep it," Sydney generously offered while Nicki was too busy laughing at Ron's pleasure from a single coin.

"Hagrid, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia—who are the rest of them from?"

"I think I know who those two are from," Ron murmured, turning pink as he pointed to the two extremely lumpy parcels. "My mum. I told her you didn't expect any presents and—oh no," he groaned, "she's made you each a Weasley sweater."

Nicki and Sydney tore open the packages to each find thick, hand-knitted sweaters and a large box of homemade fudge. Sydney's sweater was amethyst purple with a golden yellow star in the middle. Nicki's sweater was aquamarine blue with a silvery grey crescent moon in the middle.

"Every year she makes us a sweater," explained Ron, unwrapping his own, "and mine's always maroon."

"That's really nice of her," said Sydney as she and Nicki tried the fudge, which was delicious.

Their next present also contained candy—a large box of Chocolate Frogs for Nicki and a copy of _The Night Before Christmas_ for Sydney, both from Justin.

This only left two parcels, once for each of the twins. Sydney's was a lot smaller than Nicki's but it contained a charm bracelet with a Gryffindor charm dangling from it. The note inside said:

_This bracelet was given to your mother by your father as a graduation present._

_She left it in my possession before she died. It is your turn to wear it._

_Merry Christmas Sydney._

Nicki unwrapped her last present and noticed that it was surprisingly light for a package its size. Something fluid and silvery gray slithered to the floor where it lay in glimmering folds. Ron gasped.

"I've heard of those," he said in a hushed voice, dropping the box of Every Flavor Beans he'd gotten from Justin. "If that's what I think it is—they're really rare and super valuable."

"What is it?"

Nicki picked the shining cloth off the floor. It felt strange to touch, like water was woven into the material.

"It's an invisibility cloak," said Ron with awe on his face. "I'm sure it is—try it on."

Ron and Sydney watched as Nicki threw the cloak around her shoulders.

Ron gave a yell. "It is! Look down!"

Nicki looked down at her feet, but they were gone. She ran to the mirror and only saw her floating head looking back at her. She pulled the cloak over her head and her reflection completely disappeared.

"Look, a note fell out of it," Sydney said suddenly.

Nicki pulled off the cloak and seized the letter. It was written in the same handwriting as Sydney's note.

_Your father left this in my possession before he died._

_It is time it was returned to you._

_Use it well._

_Merry Christmas Nicole._

Just like Sydney's, there was no signature. Sydney stared at the note while Ron admired the cloak and Nicki thought of all the pranks she could pull using the power of invisibility.

Before any of them could ask any more questions about the cloak or the charm bracelet, the dorm door was flung open and the Weasley twins bounded in. Sydney hid the cloak out of sight before Fred and George could convince Nicki to do something really stupid with it.

"Merry Christmas!"

"Lookey here—Nic and Syd got Weasley sweaters too!"

Fred and George were wearing dark blue sweaters, one with a large yellow F and the other with a large yellow G.

"Theirs are better than ours though," said Fred while holding up Nicki's sweater. "She obviously makes more of an effort if you're not family."

"Why aren't you wearing yours Ron? Come one, get it on. They're lovely and warm," George demanded.

"I hate maroon," Ron halfheartedly moaned as he pulled it over his head.

"You haven't got a letter on yours," George observed. "I suppose she thinks you don't forget your name. But we're not stupid—we know we're called Gred and Forge."

"What's all this noise?"

Percy stuck his head through the door with a disapproving look. He too carried a lumpy sweater over his arm, which Fred seized.

"P for prefect! Put it on Percy. Come on, we're all wearing ours, even the other twins got sweaters."

"I—don't—want—"Percy grumbled thickly as his brothers forced the sweater over his head, knocking off his glasses.

"And you're sitting with the family today. Christmas is not a time to sit with the prefects," George ordered.

The excited five students marched Percy from the room with his arms pinned to his sides.

The Christmas feast made the Dursley Christmas dinner parties look like afternoon snack sessions. Wizard crackers were much more fun than muggle crackers. Sydney and Nicki returned to their dorm with a pack of non-explodable luminous balloons, a Grow-Your-Own-Warts kit, a new wizard chess set, a magic candy ring, and a pack of ever-growing flowers.

The Potters and the Weasleys spent their afternoon having a hard-core snowball fight on the grounds. Then they returned to the common room where Nicki broke in her new chess set by losing terribly to Ron. She figured that she wouldn't have lost so badly if Percy hadn't tried to help her so much. After a Christmas dessert, Nicki enlisted the help of Fred and George to get revenge on Percy by stealing his prefect badge. Sydney and Ron watched as Percy chased the three troublemakers all over Gryffindor tower. It was the twins' best Christmas ever.

After Sydney fell asleep in the bed next to hers, Nicki pulled out the cloak. Her father's… this had been her father's.

Suddenly, Nicki felt wide awake. She could go anywhere with this cloak and Filch would never know. Nicki pulled on the cloak, crept out of the dorm room, down the stairs, across the common room, and climbed through the portrait hole.

Nicki knew exactly where to go first: the Restricted Section.

The library was pitch black and really creepy, even though to Nicki, any place with this many books was creepy. She lit a lamp to see her way along the rows. The lamp looked like it was floating and despite the fact that Nicki knew she was holding it, the sight still freaked her out.

Once in the forbidden section, Nicki held up her lamp to read the titles, even though some of them didn't have titles. She picked up a large black and silver book, but it proved too heavy for her and fell on the floor, letting out a bloodcurdling shriek. Nicki snapped the book shut but accidentally broke her lamp after hearing the last earsplitting note the book gave. She panicked as she heard footsteps coming her way. Stuffing the book back in the shelf, she ran for it, passing by Filch in the doorway. Filch seemed to look right through her as Nicki slipped under his outstretched and sprinted down the corridor, a ringing left in her ears from the book.

She stopped suddenly in front of a tall suit of armor, not sure where she was.

"You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wandering around at night, and somebody's been in the library—the Restricted Section."

Nicki felt the blood drain from her face. How could Filch have gotten there so fast? _"Of course,"_ she thought. _"He knows all of the school's shortcuts."_ She heard Filch's voice louden as he came nearer. To her horror, Snape of all people replied, "The Restricted Section? Well, they can't be far. We'll catch them."

Nicki stood in her place and didn't move a muscle as the two adults rounded the corner. She sucked in her breath to make herself take up less room in the corridor. If they came any closer, they would bump into her and she would be probably kicked out of school.

She backed away as quietly as possible and slid through the open door to the left. Nicki waited inside the room until Snape and Filch's footsteps had faded down the corridor. When her pulse returned to normal, Nicki took in the sights of the room. What looked like an unused classroom had desks and chairs piled against the wall and an overturned wastebasket. However, propped against the wall was something that didn't appear to belong there.

It was a beautiful mirror about as tall as the ceiling with an ornate gold frame standing on two clawed feet. The inscription carved around the top said: _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi._

Nicki's panic faded and she moved closer to the mirror, but didn't see her reflection. Nicki walked forward until she was only a foot away from the mirror.

She bit her lip so she wouldn't scream. She whipped her head around but sure enough, nobody was behind her. She looked back in the mirror and saw herself dressed differently and standing beside the two people she only knew from a memory.

Lily Potter stood on Nicki's right. She had strawberry blonde hair, which explained where Sydney got her golden blonde hair, and her eyes—just like Nicki's, same color, bright blue, and same shape **(I know this is incorrect but I had to do it to make sense of the twins' characteristics; I know Lily Potter is a redhead with green eyes but I changed her as little as possible)**. The twins' mother was truly beautiful. She was smiling but at the same time crying.

James Potter stood on Nicki's left. He was tall, thin, and had the same messy dark hair as Nicki. He had dark blue eyes that were almost the same color as Sydney's. His eyes had the same playful twinkle as Nicki's eyes. He wore glasses and his hair stuck up in the back.

"Mum?" she whispered. "Dad?"

They just looked at her and smiled. She looked at what she was wearing and gasped—she was dressed as the Gryffindor Quidditch captain. Nicki wanted to reach out and touch the reflection. She felt half joyful and half depressed. She stood there for who-knows-how-long, watching her family. Finally, a noise in the distant brought her back to reality. She tore her eyes away from the glass and promised, "I'll come back."

Nicki snuck back to the dorm, only to find Sydney standing right behind the door with her arms crossed and a stern look on her face, looking like a strict parent after their teenage son/daughter snuck in past curfew.

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"You could've woken me up," Ron pouted.

"How 'bout you both come with me tonight. I'm going back. Oh Syd, you are going to love seeing our parents. You and Mum look practically the same."

"I should hope so," said Sydney stiffly. "Half of my genes come from her."

"Oh come on Syd. I thought you forgave me for not bringing you along."

"It's not about you not bringing me with you; it's about the fact that you almost got caught and left me worrying where my sister disappeared to."

"I'd like to see your mum and dad," said Ron eagerly, trying to ease the tension between the sisters.

"Exactly. Come on Sydney, you know you wanna see it," Nicki sang in a sing-song voice. "Since when do you pass up an opportunity to learn about something magical?"

"Oh fine," Sydney surrendered. "But only for my curiosity's sake."

Nicki couldn't eat. She had seen her parents. She didn't care about Flamel, the three-headed dog, or Snape's evil plan.

"Are you all right?" asked Ron. "You look a little weird."

After wandering around for a while, trying to find the mirror room, Nicki, Sydney, and Ron finally found the abandoned classroom. Sydney looked in the mirror and started tearing up when she saw her parents. Nicki asked her twin what she saw and Sydney answered, "I see Mum and Dad. I also see myself dressed as Head Girl."

Ron looked, expecting to see the Potters but instead he saw himself, older and dressed as Gryffindor Quidditch captain and Head Boy. He was shocked though when he saw Nicki walk up beside him, dressed in her tight Quidditch uniform. Ron turned his head to see that Nicki was indeed next to him, but she looked normal. He looked back toward the mirror and saw mirror-Nicki kissing him on the cheek. The twins saw his face and asked what he saw. "I see myself, but I'm older, and I'm Head Boy!"

"What?" Nicki practically screamed.

"And I'm Quidditch captain, and I'm holding the house cup and the Quidditch cup! Do you think this mirror reveals the future?" Ron purposely left out the kiss because he assumed that was just a mistake.

"How could it?" Sydney asked skeptically. "Our parents are dead."

The three kids started fighting over whose turn it was to look in the mirror. Suddenly, they heard a noise outside in the corridor. They dove into the corner underneath the cloak. Mrs. Norris crawled into the room. Sydney wondered if the cloak worked on animals. After what felt like an eternity, the cat left the room.

"This isn't safe; she's probably gone for Filch. Let's get outta here."

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The next day, Ron and Sydney tried to talk Nicki out of revisiting the mirror, but she ignored them. That night, she snuck down and watched her parents. Nothing could keep her from spending the night with them.

"So, back again Nicole?"

Nicki froze in place. Sitting on one of the desks was Professor Dumbledore. She must have walked right past him in desperation to get to the mirror.

"I, um, didn't see you sir."

"Ah yes, being invisible tends to make one nearsighted," Dumbledore said while smiling, causing Nicki to sigh in relief.

"So, you, like hundreds before you, have discovered the delights of the Mirror of Erised."

"I didn't know that was its name."

"But, I expect you've realized by now what it does."

"It, um, shows me my family and me as Quidditch captain."

"And it showed your sister as Head Girl."

"Yeah but she also saw our parents—"

"And your friend Ron saw himself as Head Boy and Quidditch captain."

"How did you—?"

"I don't need a cloak to become invisible," Dumbledore said gently. "Now, what do you think the Mirror of Erised shows us all?"

Nicki shrugged.

"Let me explain. The happiest man on earth would be able to use the Mirror of Erised like normal mirror, meaning he would look into it and see himself exactly as he is. Does that help?"

Nicki thought for a minute, using the productive part of her brain to answer the question. Slowly she said, "So the mirror shows us what we want, whatever we want…"

"Yes and no," Dumbledore answered. "It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts. You, who have never known your family, see them standing around you. You also see yourself as Quidditch captain, just like your father was. Your sister Sydney also wants to see your parents, but she also wants to see herself as Head Girl, just like your mother was. Ronald Weasley, who has always been overshadowed by his brothers, sees himself standing alone, the best of all of them. However, this mirror will give us neither knowledge nor truth. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible. The mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow Nicole and I ask you not to go looking for it again. If you do ever run across it, you will be prepared. It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live. Remember that. Now, why don't you put that admirable cloak back on and go back to bed?"

Nicki stood up.

"Um, Professor Dumbledore, can I ask you something?"

"You just did," Dumbledore smiled. "But you may ask me one more thing however."

"What do you see when you look in the mirror?"

"Why, I see myself holding a pair of thick woolen socks."

Nicki gave him a confused and skeptical look. "Why?"

"One can never have enough socks. Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn't get a single pair. People only insist on giving me books."

Only when Nicki was back in bed did she consider the possibility that Dumbledore might have been lying. "But then again," she thought, "it was kind of a personal question."

**Okay just to clarify, Nicki and Sydney are half-blood twins, Ron is a pure-blood, and Justin is a muggle-born with dentist parents just like Hermione. I know I focused practically the entire time on Nicki, but Sydney is equally important and she is more like Hermione than Harry. Leave reviews, not flames, and have a nice day.**


	9. Discoveries and Revelations

**Hey y'all! I'm gonna talk especially southern today cuz I just got back from cheer camp at Bama University and everyone there talked southern (everyone except the girls on my team cuz in our part of Tennessee, there ain't no accents, only drawls). Now, this series is going to be part songfic starting with this chapter… and it's not who y'all think it is. Oh and I fixed the ending to Chapter 7… I forgot to replace content after I edited the original document**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the plot of Harry Potter or any songs that I use and/or edit in my story.**

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Dumbledore convinced Nicki not to look for the Mirror of Erised again and the invisibility cloak stayed at the bottom of her trunk for the rest of the holiday vacation, Sydney made sure of that. However, the images shown by the mirror were not as easily forgotten. The girls started having nightmares. Repeatedly they dreamed about their parents disappearing in a flash of green light while a high voice cackled in evil laughter.

"You see, Dumbledore was right about that mirror. It drove you both mad," Ron chided proudly after the twins told him about their dreams.

Justin, who came back the day before term started, took a different view of it all. He was shocked that the three of them, especially Sydney, would sneak out of bed and annoyed that they hadn't at least found out who Nicolas Flamel was.

The four students had almost given up hope on finding Flamel in any library book even though Nicki was positive that she read the name somewhere, she just couldn't remember where. Once the term started, they were back to skimming through books for ten minutes during breaks. Justin and Nicki had even less time than the other two because Quidditch practice started up again for Nicki and Cynthia was acting more possessive about Justin than usual. Sydney just wished Justin would break up with Cynthia; little did she know Justin wished the same thing.

Wood was working the team harder than ever—even the endless rain that replaced the snow couldn't dampen his spirits. The Weasley twins complained that Wood was becoming a fanatic, but Nicki was on Wood's side. If they won the next match against Hufflepuff, they would defeat Slytherin in the house championship for the first time in seven years. Also Nicki realized that she had fewer nightmares if her practices tired her out.

However, during one especially wet and muddy practice session, Wood gave the team bad news; he got all over Fred and George for dive-bombing each other and pretending to fall off their brooms.

"Will you stop messing around! That's exactly the sort of thing that'll lose us the match! Snape's refereeing this time and he'll be keeping an eye out for any excuse to knock points off Gryffindor," he yelled.

George actually did fall off his broom after hearing this.

"SNAPE'S REFEREEING?" he sputtered though a mouthful of mud. "When's he ever refereed a Quidditch match? He's not going to be fair if there's the chance we might beat Slytherin."

The rest of the team landed next to George and started complaining too.

"It's not my fault," Wood argued. "We just have to make sure we play a clean game so Snape can't find excuses to pick on us."

Which was all very well, thought Nicki, but she had another reason for not wanting Snape near her while she was playing Quidditch…

That evening Nicki returned to the common room to tell her friends about the referee for the next match. They all started shouting out answers.

"Don't play," Sydney stated, as if it was that easy.

"Say you're sick," said Ron.

"Pretend to break your leg," Justin suggested.

"Actually break your leg," Ron submitted.

"I can't," replied Nicki. "Gryffindor doesn't have a reserve Seeker. If I back out, the team can't play at all."

At that moment Neville toppled into the common room. How he managed to climb through the portrait hole was unknown, because his legs were stuck together with what Nicki recognized at once as the Leg-Locker Curse. Neville must've had to hop all the way up to Gryffindor Tower.

Ron, Justin, and Nicki fell over laughing while Sydney ran over and performed the counter-curse. Neville's legs sprung apart and he got to his feet, trembling.

"What happened?" Sydney asked while leading the scared boy over to the couches.

"Malfoy," Neville answered shakily; Nicki stopped laughing immediately. "I met him outside the library. He said he'd been looking for someone to practice on."

"Dang, he's a fast learner," Nicki cursed under her breath. "Neville I'm so sorry," she said as she walked over to the shaking boy.

"Why would you need to be sorry?" he questioned. "Malfoy was the one who jinxed me."

"Yeah but technically I taught him that curse when I cast it on him after the last match," Nicki admitted guiltily.

"Go to Professor McGonagall," Sydney urged Neville. "Report him."

Neville shook his head. "I don't want any more trouble," he murmured.

"You've got to stand up to him Neville!" Justin ordered.

"He's used to walking all over people but there's no reason to lie down in front of him and make it easier," said Ron.

"There's no need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be a Gryffindor—Malfoy's already done that," Neville choked out.

Nicki put her hand in her robe pocket and pulled out her last Chocolate Frog from Justin for Christmas. She gave it to Neville who looked like he was about to cry.

"You're worth twelve of Malfoy," Justin assured. "The Sorting Hat placed you in Gryffindor didn't it? And where's Malfoy… in stinking Slytherin."

"Thanks guys… I think I'll go to bed… Do you want the card Nicki, you collect them don't you?"

As Neville walked away Nicki looked at the Famous Wizard card.

"Dumbledore again," she said, "He was the first one I ever—"

She gasped and stared at the back of the card. She looked up at her sister and friends.

"I'VE FOUND HIM!" she whispered excitedly. "I've found Nicolas Flamel! I told you I'd read the name somewhere before—and you know I don't remember much stuff I read. I read it on the train coming here. Listen to this: 'Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon blood, and _his work on alchemy with his partner Nicolas Flamel'!"_

Sydney jumped to her feet. She hadn't looked so excited since they'd gotten back the marks for their very first piece of homework.

"Stay there!" she ordered and she sprinted upstairs to her dorm room. The other three students barely had time to exchange mystified looks before Sydney dashed back downstairs with an enormous old book in her arms.

"I never thought to look in here!" she whispered breathlessly. "I got this out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading."

"_Light?_" Ron and Nicki questioned in disbelief. Sydney told the two to be quiet until she looked something up; she started flipping frantically through the pages muttering to herself. Finally she found what she was looking for.

"I knew it! I _knew_ it!"

"Are we allowed to speak yet?" Ron grumbled. Sydney ignored him.

"Nicolas Flamel," she whispered dramatically, "_is the only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone!"_

The effect of her words was not as significant as Sydney expected—Justin was the only one of the others that understood the meaning of the words.

"The what?" Ron and Nicki asked in unison.

"Oh honestly, Ron don't you read? I know Nicki doesn't but don't you? Look—read that right there."

_The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Sorcerer's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal._

_There have been many reports of the Sorcerer's Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicolas Flamel, the noted alchemist and opera lover. Mr. Flamel, who celebrated his 665__th__ birthday last year, enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife, Perenelle (658)._

"See?" said Sydney after the others had finished. "The dog must be guarding Flamel's Sorcerer's Stone. I bet he asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him because they're friends and he knew someone was after it. That's why he wanted the Stone moved out of Gringotts!"

"A stone that makes gold and stops you from ever dying!" exclaimed Justin. "No wonder Snape's after it. Anyone would want it!"

"And no wonder we couldn't find Flamel in that _Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry_," responded Ron. "He's not exactly recent if he's 665, is he?"

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The next morning in Defense Against the Dark Arts while copying down different ways of treating werewolf bites, Nicki and Ron were still discussing what they'd do with a Sorcerer's Stone if they had one. It wasn't until Ron said he'd buy his own Quidditch team that Nicki remembered about Snape and the coming match.

"I'm going to play," she told her friends. "If I don't, all the Slytherins will think I'm just too scared to face Snape. I'll show them… it'll really wipe the smiles off their smug faces if we win."

"Just as long as we're not wiping you off the field," muttered Sydney.

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As the match drew nearer however, Nicki became more and more anxious. The rest of the team wasn't too calm either. The idea of overtaking Slytherin in the house championship was wonderful—nobody had done it for seven years, but would they be allowed to, with such a biased referee?

The twins didn't know whether they were imagining it or not, but they seemed to keep running into Snape wherever they went. At times they even wondered if Snape was following them, trying to catch the sisters alone. Potions turned into a weekly torture; Snape was terrible to Nicki and even to Sydney. Could Snape possibly know that they'd found out about the Sorcerer's Stone? Sydney didn't see how he could—yet she had sometimes had the horrible feeling that Snape could read minds.

The night before the match however, Nicki came across something in Sydney's trunk when she was looking for a quill to "borrow". Nicki found a few pages of her sheet music, but they were filled with lyrics, not musical notes. The brunette twin looked at the title of the song: _You Belong With Me_ **(I know this is a song written by Taylor Swift, but I'm going to pretend Sydney wrote it; I don't own this song). **

Nicki chuckled to herself, "I knew Sydney had a thing for Justin, and I know just how to get him to realize that."

Suddenly, the door opened and Sydney walked into the room.

"NICKI! What are you doing with my stuff? Hey, give me back my song!" She snatched the papers from her nosy twin.

"You like Justin, you like Justin, you like Justin! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!" Nicki sang while doing a happy dance.

"No I don't! I wrote this for, uh, Lavender Brown to give to, uh, Seamus," Sydney lied nervously.

"Don't lie to your twin—you're a terrible liar and don't forget that since I'm your twin, I happen to know that you start twisting your hair when you get nervous."

Sydney was indeed twisting her hair around her finger but dropped it immediately when she realized she was caught.

"Okay fine, I like Justin; happy now?" Sydney crossed her arms and turned away in frustration.

"Very. But don't worry—your older sister has a plan," Nicki suspiciously said as she put her arm around her sniffling sister's shoulder.

"First of all, you're only older than me by like three minutes; and second of all, no way. Your plans always fail," Sydney glared at Nicki.

"Don't worry, this one's foolproof."

"That's what you said about the plan to send Dudley to a 'private school' in Antarctica."

"Just listen to me—here's what we'll do…"

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Nicki knew when her friends wished her luck outside the locker rooms the next day, they were wondering if they'd ever see her alive again. That wasn't exactly comforting. Nicki hardly heard a word of Wood's pep talk in the locker room next door as she pulled on her Quidditch robes and picked up her Nimbus 2000. Angelina tied up Nicki's hair and streaked it just like the last match.

Sydney, Justin, and Ron, meanwhile, had found a place in the stands next to Neville, who couldn't understand why they looked so grim and worried. He also couldn't understand why all three of them had brought their wands to the match. Little did Nicki know that her two friends and her responsible and nonviolent twin sister had been secretly practicing the Leg-Locker Curse. They'd gotten the idea from Nicki using it on Malfoy and Malfoy using it on Neville. They were ready to use the curse on Snape if he showed any sign of wanting to use it on Nicki.

"Now don't forget, it's _Locomotor Mortis,_" Sydney whispered as Ron and Justin slipped their wands up their sleeves.

"I know," Ron snapped. "Don't nag."

Back in the locker room meeting area, Wood took Nicki aside.

"Don't want to pressure you Potter, but if we ever need an early capture of the Snitch, it's now. Finish the game before Snape can favor Hufflepuff too much."

"The whole school's out there," Fred observed while peering out the door. "Even Dumbledore."

Nicki's heart did a somersault.

"Dumbledore?" she asked, dashing to the door to make sure. Sure enough, Dumbledore was sitting in the faculty and guests bleacher.

Nicki sighed in relief. She was safe. Snape wasn't stupid enough to try and hurt her if Dumbledore was watching.

Maybe that was why Snape looked so angry as the teams marched onto the field, something that Ron also noticed.

"I've never seen Snape look so mean," he told Sydney. "Look—they're off. Ouch!"

Someone had poked Ron in the back of the head. It was Malfoy.

"Oh sorry Weasley; didn't see you there."

Malfoy grinned evilly at Crabbe and Goyle.

"Wonder how long Potter's going to stay on her broom this time? Anyone want a bet? How about you Weasley?"

Ron didn't answer. Snape had just awarded Hufflepuff a penalty because George had hit a Bludger at him. Sydney, who had all her fingers crossed in her lap, was squinting fixedly at her sister, who was circling the game like a hawk, searching for the Snitch.

"You know how I think they choose people for Gryffindor?" Malfoy announced loudly a few minutes later, as Snape awarded Hufflepuff another penalty for no reason at all. "It's people they feel sorry for. See, there are the Potters, who have no parents, the Weasleys, who have no money, and Longbottom, who has no brains."

Neville's face turned bright red and he turned in his seat to face smug Malfoy.

"I'm worth a dozen of you, Malfoy," he stammered.

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle howled with laughter, but Ron, still not daring to take his eyes from the game, said, "You tell him Neville!"

"Longbottom, if brains were gold you'd be poorer than Weasley, and that's saying something."

Ron's nerves were already stretched to the breaking point with anxiety about Nicki. Sydney sent her twin a quick mental message, something they could only do in emergencies.

"I'm warning you Malfoy—one more word and—"

"Ron! Justin! Neville! DUCK!"

The four Gryffindors ducked down just as Nicki sped over their bleachers, knocking over the three Slytherin bullies. She winked at her friends as she flew back above the game.

Moments later, Nicki went into a spectacular dive, drawing gasps and cheers from the crowd. Sydney stood up, covering her mouth in fear, as Nicki streaked toward the ground like a bullet.

"You're in luck Weasley, Potter's obviously spotted some money on the ground," jeered Malfoy.

Ron snapped. Before Malfoy knew what was happening, Ron tackled him, using a wrestling move that Nicki taught him. Neville and Justin hesitated before climbing over the back of their seats to help.

"Come on Nicki!" Sydney screamed, leaping onto her seat to watch as her sister sped straight at Snape—she didn't even notice the fighting boys rolling around under her seat or the scuffles and yelps coming from the whirl of fists that was Neville, Justin, Crabbe, and Goyle.

Up in the air, Snape turned on his broomstick just in time to see something scarlet shoot past him, missing him by inches—the next second, Nicki pulled out of the dive, her arm raised in triumph, the Snitch clasped in her hand.

"Ron! Justin! Where are you? The game's over! Nicki won! We've won! Gryffindor's in the lead!" shrieked Sydney, jumping on her seat and hugging Parvati Patil, who had been sitting next to her.

Nicki jumped off her broom. She couldn't believe it. She'd done it—the game was over after less than five minutes. As Gryffindors ran onto the field, she saw Snape land nearby, pale and tight lipped. Suddenly, Nicki felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up at Dumbledore's smiling face.

"Well done," Dumbledore congratulated quietly. He then whispered to her, "Nice to see you haven't been brooding about that mirror… been keeping busy… excellent…"

Snape spat bitterly on the ground, frowning like Dudley when he didn't get what he wanted.

Nicki followed Snape after the match on her broom, keeping a safe distance away. He went into the Forbidden Forest. Nicki saw him meet with Quirrell and have a conversation about the Sorcerer's Stone and loyalties, but she didn't hear to whom the loyalties belonged. She looked at her watch and rushed back to the broom shed to put away her broom, realizing that she was late for the victory party.

Back in the dorm room, Nicki untied her hair, keeping the Gryffindor colored streaks for the party, and changed into her ripped white skinny jeans, off-the-shoulder red shirt, low slung gold belt, black converses, gold and black fingerless gloves, and sparkly black fedora. She walked in the common room, receiving a few whistles from older boys, and immediately found her friends. Sydney was dressed in light brown cowboy boots, knee length white frilly skirt, and a matching top. Her blonde curls hung down her back with gold colored ribbons woven through her hair.

"Nicki, where have you been?" Sydney squeaked.

"We won! You won! We won!" shouted Ron, thumping Nicki on the back. "And I gave Malfoy a black eye, and Neville and Justin took on Crabbe and Goyle! Neville's still out cold but Madam Pomfrey says he'll be alright—talk about showing Slytherin!"

"What's wrong Nicki? You look like you somebody tried to make you write an essay," Justin joked.

"I'll tell you guys what I say later. There are too many people here to tell you. After the party, we find an empty room and I'll fill you guys in, but right now Syd and I have to do something."

Nicki pulled her twin through the crowd up to the platform conjured up for entertainment. She gave the person handling the music a signal to stop the music. Sydney cast a spell on her wand, making it work like a microphone, and handed it to Nicki.

"Okay everybody, we're going to be hearing a song written by my sister Sydney. If you're that person from the song, realize what an idiot you've been and do what you have to do." Nicki handed to wand-mic to Sydney and pulled out her own wand, casting a spell on her electric guitar to make it sound like an acoustic guitar. Sydney lifted the wand-mic up to her lips and started singing.

_You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift. _**(AN I originally had my slightly edited version of the song on here, but apparently there's a group going around fanfiction bullying authors who bend the rules, so I'm not taking any chances. From now on, if a song goes with a chapter, I will write the name of the song and you guys go look it up and listen to it as you read through that part)**

The roaring applause filled the common room as Sydney finished her song. The twin sisters held hands and bowed together. Justin and Sydney made eye contact and he immediately understood that he was the boy in the song. As soon as the girls came off the platform, Justin hugged Sydney as hard as he could.

"I'll be right back—there's something I have to go do," he whispered in her ear.

With that, Justin left the common room. A few minutes later, a screech was heard all across the school. As soon as Justin returned, he told the entire common room that he broke up with Cynthia. Everybody cheered before they were sent to bed by the prefects.

Nicki explained everything to Sydney and told the boys the next morning. Sydney was glad her sister did something nice, but was told not to get used to it.

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**So, how was it? I changed a few words to match it to Hogwarts, but I kept the song mainly the same. My brother says Justin and Sydney are too young, but it fit the best because I didn't want them to have the Harry/Ginny type of relationship where they like each other but break up soon after they get together. Oh well, leave reviews, no flames, and I'll update soon.**


	10. Hagrid's New Pet

**Hey, Hey, Hey! I saw how many of you have read my story this month and how many countries you guys are from and _*tearing up*_ you guys are so amazing and I don't deserve fans like you. I don't mean to disappoint y'all but this'll be my last update for a few weeks but don't worry. So, enjoy…**

**Disclaimer: you all know by now that I don't own Harry Potter!**

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Quirrell was obviously braver than the students assumed. Even though he got paler and thinner as the weeks passed, but he didn't crack.

Every time Sydney, Nicki, Ron, and Justin passed the corridor on the third floor, they put their ears up to the door to make sure Fluffy was still growling inside. Snape was still in his normal bad mood, meaning the Stone was still safe. Whenever the twins passed Quirrell in the halls, Sydney gave him a warm smile and Nicki didn't frown at him. Ron and Justin started telling people off for laughing at Quirrell's stutter.

Still, Sydney kept her mind focused on more than the Sorcerer's Stone. She had started drawing up study schedules and color-coding all of her notes. Nicki and the boys wouldn't have minded, but she kept nagging them to do the same.

"Sis, the exams are like forever away."

"Ten weeks," Sydney snapped. "That's not forever; that's like a second to Nicolas Flamel."

"But we're not six hundred years old," Ron reminded her. "Anyway, what are you studying for? You already know it all."

"What am I studying for?! Are you crazy?! You realize we need to pass these exams to get into second year? They're very important! I should've started studying a month ago! I don't know what's gotten into me…" Sydney started rambling and hyperventilating.

The boys ran over to help the overreacting girl, but Nicki just leaned back in her chair and put her feet up on the table. She was used to her sister's pre-exam freak-outs.

Unfortunately, the teachers had the same train-of-thought as Sydney. They practically buried the students in homework over Easter break. It was hard to relax with Sydney next to them having Justin quiz her on the twelve uses of dragon's blood or matching wand movements with spells. Sydney and Justin were an unofficial couple, but even Justin got a little annoyed by his almost-girlfriend's insane study habits. Moaning and yawning, Nicki and Ron spent most of their free time in the library with the other two, trying to get through all their extra work.

"I'll never remember this!" Ron burst out one afternoon, receiving a strict shush from Madam Pince.

"Well this is what I get for not checking out Mom's brains from the gene library," Nicki complained, throwing up her hands in the air. "Why couldn't I have gotten those and Dad's looks and Quidditch skills? That would make life so much easier," Nicki grumbled, throwing down her quill and slumping in her seat joining Ron in looking out the library window.

It was the first great day they'd had in months, a day that just screamed _"Come and play outside!"_ The sky was a bright blue that announced the coming summer.

Justin, who was looking up "dittany" in _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_, didn't look up until he heard Ron say, "Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?"

Hagrid moved into view, clearly hiding something behind his back. He stood out like a sore thumb in his moleskin overcoat. He kept shifting position as Nicki kept trying to see what he was holding.

"Jus' lookin'," he responded shiftily, immediately catching the interest of the kids. "An' what're you lot up ter?" He suddenly gave them a suspicious face. "Yer not still lookin' for Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?"

"Oh we found out who he is ages ago," bragged Ron. "And we know what the dog is guarding—it's a Sorcerer's St—"

"Shhhh!" Hagrid whispered, looking around to make sure nobody had heard. "Don' go shoutin' about it! What's the matter with yeh?"

"There are a few things we wanted to ask you actually," said Sydney, breaking out of her exam-freak-out mode for her curiosity, "about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy—"

"SHHHHH!" Hagrid shushed again, more loudly this time. "Listen, come an' see me later. I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', but don't go rabbitin' about it in here. Students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh—"

"Ok, ok, we'll see you later then," Nicki interrupted in an impatient voice. "Seriously Hagrid, you need to relax and take a vacation or something.

Hagrid shuffled out of the library.

"Really, Nicki? You need to learn to be nicer. Can't you see that Hagrid is under a lot of stress?" Sydney scolded.

"Ignoring Nicki's lack of manners, what was Hagrid hiding behind his back?" Justin asked.

"Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?" Nicki asked.

"I'm going to see what section he was looking in," Ron offered, throwing his book behind his back to show that he'd had enough of working. He came back a few minutes later with a stack of books and slammed them on the table.

"Dragons!" he whispered. "Hagrid was researching dragons! Look at these: _Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland_; _From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon Keeper's Guide_."

"Hagrid's always wanted a dragon, he told Nicki and me when we first met him," said Sydney.

"But it's against our laws," said Ron. "Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709—everyone knows that. It's hard to stop Muggles from noticing us if we're keeping dragons in the back garden. Anyway, you can't tame dragons. It's dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie's gotten from wild ones in Romania."

"But there aren't wild dragons in Britain?" asked Nicki.

"Of course there are," Ron explained, proud that he know something the others didn't. "Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks. The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up, I can tell you. Our kind has to keep putting spells on Muggles who've spotted them in order to make them forget."

"So what could Hagrid possibly be up to?" Justin questioned.

When they knocked on the door of the gamekeeper's hut an hour later, they were surprised to see that all the curtains were closed. Hagrid called "Who is it?" before he let them in, shutting the door the minute they stepped inside.

It was boiling hot inside the hut. Even though it was warm and sunny outside, Hagrid had a fire going in the fireplace. Hagrid made the four kids tea and offered them stoat sandwiches, which the students politely (well Sydney and Justin) declined.

"So, yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?"

"Yes," started Justin. "We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Sorcerer's Stone other than Fluffy."

Hagrid frowned at her.

"O' course I can't," he replied. "Number one, I don't even know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn't tell yeh even if I knew. That Stone's here fer a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts. I s'ppose yeh've worked that out an' all? Beats me how hey even know bout Fluffy."

"Oh come on Hagrid. You might not want to tell us but you do know. You everything that goes on around here," said Sydney in a warm, flattering voice. The kids could see a smile stretching over the tops of Hagrid's beard. "We only wondered who had done the guarding really." Sydney continued. "We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, other than you."

While Hagrid considered Sydney's last three words, Ron and Justin beamed at the blonde twin and Nicki crossed her arms and shook her head, chuckling to herself at her sister's talent of flattering adults.

"Well I don' s'ppose it could hurt ter tell yeh that… let's see… he borrowed Fluffy from me… then some o' the teachers did enchantments: Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall," he counted each of the teachers off on his fingers; "Professor Quirrell—an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape."

"_SNAPE_?!" the kids shouted.

"Yeah—yer not still on about that are yeh? Look, Snape helped protect the Stone. He's not about ter steal it."

The four kids looked at each other, thinking the same thing. If Snape had been in on protecting the Stone, it must have been easy to find out how the other teachers had guarded it. He probably knew everything—everything except Quirrell's spell and how to get past Fluffy.

"You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren't you Hagrid?" Justin wheedled. "And you wouldn't tell anyone would you? Not even one of the teachers?"

"Nope. Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore," Hagrid answered proudly.

"Well that's something," Nicki muttered to the others. "Hagrid, can we open a window or something? I'm boiling."

"Sorry, Nic, no can do," said Hagrid, shrugging his shoulders. Nicki noticed him glancing at the fire. Nicki and the others looked at it too.

"Hagrid, what's that?" Justin asked nervously.

However, all four kids knew exactly what it was. Underneath the kettle, right in the middle of the fire, was a huge black egg.

"Ah, that's—er…" Hagrid scratched nervously at his beard.

"Where did you get it Hagrid?" Ron asked in amazement, crouching over the fire to get a closer look at the egg. "It must've cost you a fortune."

"I won it, down at the pub. I won it from a stranger in a game o' cards. Seemed pretty glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest."

"But what are you going to do with it once it's hatched?" Sydney asked.

"I'm gonna take care o' it. I've bin doin' some readin' and what I've got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're pretty rare."

Hagrid looked pleased with himself, but Sydney look disapproving.

"Hagrid, you live in a wooden house. One sneeze from that dragon and you'll have to rebuild the whole house," Justin reprimanded.

But Hagrid wasn't listening—he was too busy tending to the fire around the egg. Suddenly, the kids heard a crackling sound coming from the fire. Hagrid put on some floral oven mitts and reached into the fire. He took out the egg, making little sounds of pain from the heat. He put the egg in the middle of the table and the kids gathered around it.

The shell broke and what looked like a little black lizard slithered out.

"Awwwww," Sydney cooed, overcome by the baby dragon's cuteness.

"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid murmured. He reached out to stroke the dragon's head, but it snapped at his fingers.

"Awwwww," Nicki said affectionately, finding the baby dragon's playful and rebellious spirit adorable.

"Bless him, look, he knows his mommy!" Hagrid chuckled.

The kids looked at each other awkwardly and then started laughing. While laughing, Justin turned his head toward the window and saw two heads of distinctive platinum blonde hair.

"Malfoy and Cynthia!" Justin growled.

Malfoy's mouth formed an o shape and he knew that he and Cynthia had been spotted, running up toward the castle.

"Oh no!" Hagrid muttered with a worried expression on his face.

"Get him!" Nicki yelled, sounding like an army general commanding her troops.

The four kids ran out of the hut, trying to catch Malfoy before he found one of the teachers. But, they were too late. Standing next to a smirking Malfoy and a sneering Cynthia was an annoyed Professor McGonagall. Even though it was late at night and McGonagall was wearing a tartan bathrobe and no hat, McGonagall still had the same irritated face that she used in class to discipline students.

"Um, we were sleepwalking?" Nicki said unconvincingly, shrugging her shoulders and smiling weakly**.**

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**Thank you for reading and I'll update hopefully in the next two weeks. Don't forget to review!**


	11. Detention in the Forbidden Forest

**Hello to all my faithful fans! ***running to hide behind couch for protection* **Don't kill me. I'm sorry for not updating in over two months but school started up and with two sophomore honors classes, two regular sophomore classes, and one junior honors class, and varsity cheerleading and six dance classes, I was just too busy to sit down and write for this story. I also got wrapped up in my new story, Something Greater Than Treasure (Treasure Planet), because that story has an amazing fan who emails me once every few days begging for a new chapter. I finally told him that a new chapter would not be up for that story until I wrote a new chapter for this story. **

**sydney j: I have seriously thought about your suggestion but the problem is that I made Sydney to be like Hermione and Nicki to be like Harry, so it would be kind of mixed up to replace Sydney with Harry. But thank you for your suggestion. I love hearing what my readers think (as long as it's not mean)**

**Guest: um, okay? Thanks for reviewing, I think**

**Disclaimer- I do not and never will own Harry Potter**

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"How dare you all sneak out of bed past curfew! I must say I am very disappointed in all of you. Especially you, Miss Potter. I never expected you to agree to something so juvenile, Sydney. 50 points from Gryffindor," McGonagall stated as calmly as she could.

"50 Points?!" the students cried out.

"Each," McGonagall finished. "All six of you have detention this Friday."

Malfoy's smug smirk dropped from his face when he heard this. He stepped forward and said, "Excuse me, Professor. Perhaps I misheard you. I thought you just said the _six_ of us."

"As did I," Cynthia added.

"No you heard me correctly, Malfoy. While your actions were noble, you and Cynthia were still out after-hours."

Nicki inwardly smirked. If she had detention, at least Malfoy did too.

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That Friday night at 11:00, the four Gryffindors walked to meet Filch and the two Slytherins at the entrance hall. They felt terrible. Because of them, Gryffindor had lost 200 points and was now in last place in the House Cup. Even Sydney and Nicki had become the victims of many insults because thanks to them and their friends, Slytherin was in the lead for the House Cup. And now even the kindest Hufflepuffs and most thoughtful Ravenclaws turned their backs on the four students. Only Slytherins treated them nicely, but that was because they had put those snakes up in first place.

"Thanks Potter," Slytherin upperclassmen would sneer at the twins as they walked down the hall.

"Don't worry about it," Ron assured the guilty twins. "Fred and George have lost plenty of points for Gryffindor and people still like them."

"200 in one night?" Sydney and Nicki asked at the same time. Sydney's tone was hopeful but Nicki's was skeptical.

"Uh...no," Ron admitted. "Yeah, that's bad."

They arrived at the entrance hall to find Filch, Malfoy, and Cynthia waiting for them.

"Follow me," Filch ordered as he led them outside the castle. "Bet you'll think twice 'bout sneaking out next time. In the old days, you'd be hangin' from your ankles in the courtyard. Oh, how I miss the screamin'."

The four looked at each other in disgust. "Do you think we can have him arrested for illegal enjoyment of pain and suffering?" Justin whispered to Sydney. Sydney slapped him on the arm to quiet him down.

They all arrived at Hagrid's hut a few minutes later. "You'll be servin' your detention with Hagrid tonight."

Hagrid looked up from loading his crossbow and the kids could see his red and puffy eyes.

"Oh sweet Merlin, pull yourself together man! It's only a dragon!" Filch scolded.

"He was only a baby. Charlie took'm this mornin' to Romania ta live in a dragon reservation," Hagrid blubbered.

"Well that's good, isn't it?" Sydney asked. "Now he can lived with his own kind."

"Yeah well what if he don't like his own kind? What if the other dragons are mean to him?" Hagrid whimpered.

"Ugh. I'll leave you in his _capable_ hands. He'll be takin' ya into the Forbidden Forest."

"_The Forbidden Forest!_" Cynthia sneered in disgust.

"I thought you were joking about that," Draco scowled.

"Students are banned from there. Besides, it's too dangerous! There are werewolves and other monsters in there!" Cynthia argued in her whiny voice.

"Oh yeah, well they can't be any worse than the spoiled, high-pitched, bleached-blonde monster standing right in front of me," Nicki challenged, fed up with this spoiled brat's princess attitude.

"_BLEACHED-BLONDE!_" Cynthia shrieked. She jumped at Nicki but was held back by Hagrid. Nicki smirked and folded her arms across her chest as Cynthia tried clawing at her.

"Now stop it you two!" Hagrid ordered. "Cynthia, Justin, 'n Sydney follow me. Nic, Ron, 'n Malfoy, you go off in another direction. We're tryin' to find who's hurtin' the unicorns in the forest." Just as he finished giving directions, they found a unicorn laying on its side with a fatal neck wound and silver blood leaking out. "This one's dead. I found another one wounded a few weeks ago."

"What kind of inhumane being could slay any creature, let alone a purely innocent unicorn?!" Sydney replied.

"Well whatever it is, I get Fang," Malfoy demanded.

"Suit yourself," Hagrid grumbled, "he's a bloody coward."

The large boarhound whined as if to prove Hagrid's point. Hagrid handed Malfoy a lamp and the groups separated.

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"We shouldn't be doing this. Just wait til my father hears about this. This is servants' work for people like Weaselbee," Malfoy said snarkily.

"Just shut up, Malfoy, before I shut you up myself!" Nicki responded angrily. That got Malfoy to be quiet.

Suddenly the three students and the dog came upon a clearing. But what was in the clearing was what scared them. Leaning over the body of a unicorn, was a hooded figure, drinking its blood like a vampire.

"What...what is that?" Ron stuttered.

The figure turned and Ron ran as fast as he could to the area they had just come from.

Malfoy jumped in front of Nicki and held out his wand. "Don't worry, Nicole. I'll protect you!" Nicki rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. But the figure moved closer and Malfoy sprinted off, faster than Fang.

Nicki scoffed, "My hero," her voice dripping with sarcasm. She looked back toward the figure, who was now only a few yards away. Nicki backed up slowly at first, but then screamed, turned around, and ran, but tripped over a log. Her wand flew into the bushes as she fell, and one look at her ankle determined that she had twisted it.

Sydney heard her sister's scream, as did the others, and they all sprinted toward the source. Her star-shaped scar started stinging more with each step toward her twin. Nicki's crescent moon burned as the shadow got closer and closer.

Sydney and the others arrived at the clearing and Sydney jumped down to her sister. The shadow lunged when suddenly, a horse-like creature jumped out of the bushes and over to the figure. It reared up on its hind legs and kicked out at the shadow. The cloaked figure retreated immediately into the bushes.

The centaur trotted over to the cowering twins. "Sydney and Nicole Potter, you are well known by the creatures in this forest. You are not safe here."

"What was that thing?" Sydney asked nervously.

"A dark and powerful magic. To slay something as pure and innocent as a unicorn leaves the drinker with a half-life."

"But who would want to live that life?" Sydney thought out loud.

"Can you think of nobody?" the centaur asked.

"So what you're saying it that...that thing...that tried to attack us...is Voldemort?" Nicki questioned.

Hagrid caught up with the other students and looked at the centaur. "'Allo Firenze. I see you've met our young Potter twins."

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**So, how was it? For this chapter I decided to stick to the movie plot for this chapter because it made more sense than the book's plot. Remember to review, but no flames, and I'll see y'all next time.**


	12. The Dangers of Gardening and Chess

**Hey y'all! Did ya miss me? Well, here comes another chapter. I'm almost done with this year, only one or two more chapters left after this and then I start Year Two, which will be a separate story, so put me on author alert so you can know when the story comes out.**

**Also, pray for the victims of the Newtown shooting. One more thing, KG was a girl who was in my grade at my school. She died this morning (12/18/12) from cancer, but before she did, she asked to be buried in our school uniform _*tearing up*_**she loved our school that much. This girl was a living angel, always smiling even though she had one leg and only a short time to live. KG Rest In Peace. Here is something she once said:****

****"Courage is doing the thing you fear most. If it means I live, take the leg away."****

**Disclaimer: I never have and never will own the plot or characters of the original Harry Potter stories…no matter how much I want to.**

**Merry Christmas! This is my gift to you.**

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Nicki was never, ever, for the rest of her life, going to figure out how Sydney was able to push through exams when they half-expected Voldemort to sneak up on them at any moment. But the days passed and obviously Fluffy was still playing guard dog behind the locked door.

The Hogwarts exams were both similar and different from regular exams. The written tests came with special new quills, charmed with anti-cheating spells for everybody, especially the troublemakers at the top of Filch's list (meaning Nicki, Fred, George, and Lee). The magical exams were definitely more fun, except for Snape's breathing down everybody's necks while they put together Forgetfullness potions.

Nicki actually did try the best she could to do well, but it was hard with the stabbing pains in her forehead and lack of sleep from nightmares. Sydney wasn't affected at all by her scar pains because they weren't any worse than her annual pre-exam/during-exam headaches. Sydney had trained her mind to not be distracted by pain.

The second Professor Binns told the class to lower their quills and roll up their parchments, every kid in the class except Sydney cheered and screamed in joy. Nicki and Ron did a victory dance while Justin grabbed Sydney, who was already going over what possible answers could have been, and dragged her out of the classroom.

"That was actually easier than I thought," Sydney thought outloud to Justin. "I needn't have worried learning about-"

Sydney was cut off by Nicki sprinting out of the classroom behind them with her hands thrown up in the air, yelling, "FREEDOM!"

"Ahem," Sydney cleared her throat loudly, "As I was saying, I guess I didn't need to study the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager."

"Please don't talk about the exams," Ron groaned, "It makes me feel sick."

"Well at least you know you got one thing right," Nicki replied.

"What's that?" Ron asked.

"Your name!" Nicki joked. The four kids laughed and headed down to the lake for a well deserved rest. Nicki wanted to feel happy that she was done with exams, but the drop in concentration level in her brain only made her scar hurt worse.

"Cheer up Nic," Ron said gleefully. "We've got a whole week to rest before we find out how bad we did."

"Well it's kinda hard to celebrate when I've got somebody using a jackhammer on my forehead," Nicki snapped back. Ron looked at the irritated twin in confusion. "Muggle object," Nicki said to answer the boy's unspoken question.

"Oh, is that what's been hurting my head?" Sydney asked genuinely. "I just assumed it was my annual headache. I was wondering why it hadn't stopped yet."

"Go see Madam Pomfrey," Justin urged.

"No I think it's some kind of warning," Nicki responded, rubbing her scar to make the pain subside.

Sydney suddenly gasped, sat up quickly, grabbed her bag and ran off toward Hagrid's hut. The others looked at each other in confusion, picked up their stuff and ran after her, yelling things like "Syd, where are you going?"

The other three caught up to the blonde right before they reached Hagrid's, bent over and trying to catch their breath. Sydney turned to them and said, "Isn't it a bit weird that Hagrid has wanted a dragon his whole life and suddenly someone just shows up carrying a dragon egg even though it's against wizard law?"

Before the others could even respond, Sydney ran over to Hagrid, who was carving wood on his front stairs, her friends trailing behind.

"Hagrid, that man who gave you the dragon, what did he look like, was there anything strange about him?" Sydney interrogated.

"Well I dunno. He had a hood on. But actually yeah, he seemed kinda eager ta get ridda it."

"Well did he ask if you had any other creatures or seem interested in any particular, um, pets?"

"Of course he did. It's not everyday ya meet somebody with so many critters, 'specially a three-headed dog. Yeah he asked a lot 'bout Fluffy."

"Don't you find that a bit odd?" Justin asked, understanding where Sydney was coming from.

"Why would't be? Not many people have three-headed dogs jus' layin' around. An' I told'm Fluffy was a piece o' cake compared to a dragon. With Fluffly, all ya 'ave ta do is play a bit o' music an' he falls fas' asleep."

The kids looked at each other in horror before they ran off. They didn't stop running until they reached McGonagall's classroom, where she was focused on grading exams.

"Professor McGonagall!" Sydney exclaimed, slamming her hands down on the teacher's desk. "We need to speak to Professor Dumbledore, immediately!"

"It's a matter of life or death!" Justin added for emphasis.

"Why I'm afraid Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago," McGonagall informed the students, her tone restrained of all anger. "He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once."

"He's gone?! Now?!" Nicki begged, her voice strained from the tension and fear.

"Professor Dumbledore is a powerful wizard, Nicole, he has many demands on his time-"

"But this is important!" Nicki interrupted.

"More important than the Ministry of Magic, young lady?" McGonagall challenged, her words as cold as the look in her eyes.

"Professor, it's about the Sorcerer's Stone," Sydney blurted out, hoping that her favorite teacher would help them.

McGonagall's head snapped up from the exam papers, her glare so penetrating that the kids felt like she was trying to read their minds, or at least burn holes through their heads. "How did you possibly find out about that?"

"Um, internet?" Nicki offered, too freaked out by her Head of House's piercing stare to put a good excuse together.

"That doesn't matter right now," Sydney butted in, thankfully saving her sister's butt. "What does matter is that someone is going to try to steal the Stone. We have to talk to Professor Dumbledore." Nicki was pleasantly surprised by her twin's assertiveness and confidence to stand up to a teacher, and a somewhat scary one at that.

"Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow," McGonagall sighed, finally dropping her glare, but only briefly before throwing it back at the students. "I don't know how you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, nobody can possibly steal it... it's too well protected."

"But Professor-" Justin pleaded.

"Granger, I know what I'm talking about. Now all of you leave, before I have to take away more points from my own house."

The kids carefully backed out of the room. It wasn't until they were outside that they realized that they hadn't taken a single breath since McGonagall gave them her famous glare. The four of them all started rapidly breathing until they restored the air that had been held in their lungs.

"It's happening tonight," Nicki stated firmly, totally sure of what she was saying. "And we're gonna be there when it happens."

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That night, Sydney, Nicki, Ron, and Justin felt like they were spies preparing for a top secret mission to save the world, which technically they were. The boys just wore jeans and dark sweaters, but the girls were dressed a little more fun, but still able to blend in with the shadows.

Sydney had on tight denim capris with black ballet flats and a short-sleeved purple henley shirt with a cropped, three-quarter sleeve denim jacket and her hair tied back in a high ponytail. Nicki, on the other hand, had grey cargo pants, black converses, black t-shirt, and an unbuttoned light turqouise and grey plaid shirt tied at the ends at her midriff, finished off with a white newsboy cap.

While the four students waited for the rest of their House members to go to sleep, they checked on the details of their plan. Sydney flipped through notes in hopes of coming across one of the enchantments they would have to break that night. Nicki made sure she grabbed the cloak before the other girls noticed. Sydney pocketed the flute Hagrid whittled, also shrinking Nicki's guitar and bringing it along in case the flute didn't work out.

The group was just about to head out when they heard a familiar voice behind them. "What are you doing?"

The four turned around to see Neville standing at the stairs from the boys' dorm, clutching his toad while wearing blue teddy bear footie pajamas. Nicki could barely hold in her laughter at the boy's appearance.

"Nothing Neville," Sydney insisted, using her almost-magical power of persuasion.

"You're going out again," Neville replied firmly yet shakily. "You can't go out. You'll be caught again and Gryffindor will lose even more points."

"Neville, you don't understand. This is important," Justin responded, trying to think of a way to politely get rid of the boy.

"I won't let you do it," Neville said nervously, obviously trying to sound tough. "I'll - I'll fight you!" Neville put up his fists, obviously meaning what he said.

Nicki scoffed to the side before turning back to the boy in the fighting stance and saying, "Neville, I taught all you know, but not all I know. Dude, I'm sorry about this but..." Nicki dashed behind the boy and pushed hard on the pressure point in his neck and shoulder. Before Neville could collapse, Sydney pulled her wand out of her boot, raised it, and cried, "_Petrificus Totalus!" _

Neville's legs and arms snapped to his sides as his whole body went stiff before he fell to the floor. The others looked down on the boy who unfortunately fell flat on his face.

"You're a little scary sometimes. You know that?" Ron stuttered. "Brilliant, but scary."

"Full body bind," Sydney said, answering the unspoken questions. "The pressure point might last until we get back but I didn't wanna take any chances. And the brilliance is all mine, but Nicki's scariness has rubbed off on me." Nicki closed her eyes and grinned, taking her sister's statement as a compliment. But before anybody could say different, Nicki waved her wand and said three different spells.

"_Obscuro!"_ A blindfold appeared out of nowhere and tied itself around Neville's eyes.

"_Incarcerous!"_ A rope snaked its way around Neville's body, fully confining the boy even if the full body bind wore off.

"_Silencio!"_ Neville's lips closed even tighter and even if he could move his mouth, he wouldn't be able to say anything. Nicki lifted her head and pocketed her wand skillfully.

The other three looked to Nicki before Justin questioned, "Are you sure that's not too much? No offense but I think you took it a little too far."

"Oh well," Nicki dismissed with a wave of her hand. "Too late to do anything about it now. We got an evil teacher to stop. Huh, never thought I'd say that and actually mean it. Oh and before you ask Syd, Fred and George did not teach me those spells. I actually found them when we spent that eternity in the library."

Sydney pursed her lips and nodded in understanding and agreement, thinking about how her twin called practically all teachers evil, but this time Nicki was actually right about Snape.

The four of them just barely fit under the cloak. They hurried up to the third floor, but when they got inside they noticed a harp in the room, but Fluffy was awake. They slipped out of the cloak as Sydney pulled out the flute, trying to play a tune but not sure how to handle the flute without hitting a bad note. Then she remembered her sister's guitar, which was still charmed to sound acoustic.

Sydney pulled out the tiny guitar, enlarged it to regular size and called out Nicki's name before tossing the guitar to her twin. Nicki caught the guitar, put on the strap, and strummed a simple lullaby. Fluffy's three sets of eyes immediately began to droop. She continued to play as her friends opened the trapdoor.

However, the trapdoor seemed to have no bottom. "Just jump," Sydney urged, not sure of how long the dog would sleep. The two boys gulped in fear before jumping in. Nicki quickly returned the guitar back to her sister before jumping in herself. Sydney shrank and stored the instrument and fell into the bottomless pit before Fluffy fully woke up.

The landing was soft, but not safe. The kids had landed in a giant pit of a vine-like plant, which kept tying around them. Sydney studied the plants, trying to figure out what they were, while the others simply squirmed in a failed attempt of escape. Suddenly, the blonde girl's face lit up.

"All of you, stop moving! This is Devil's Snare. The more you move, the faster it will kill you. You have to relax."

"Great, now how am I supposed to relax when I know this plant is trying to murder me?!" Ron exclaimed, jerking around under the vines.

Sydney sighed impatiently as she shook her head in annoyance. The girl closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and disappeared under the Devil's Snare.

"Syd!" Nicki screamed, trying to locate her sister under the vines.

"Just relax!" Sydney called up from a chamber underneath the plants.

Justin went first, taking a meditation pose and sinking through the vines.

"Justin!" Ron screamed. Nicki took a deep breath and followed the blonde boy through the plants. "Nic!" Ron cried out.

The other three were standing in the lower chamber, listening to Ron's screams and watching his legs squirm under the Devil's Snare.

Sydney crossed her arms before she looked to the other two and said, "He's not relaxing, is he?"

**"**Apparently not," Justin replied.

**"**I've gotta do something!" Sydney insisted while Nicki was too busy trying to yank her hat out from one of the vines.

"What?" Justin asked.

"Oh, I remember reading something in herbology... um..." Sydney struggled to remember the little rhyme.

"Hel-!" Ron yelled, starting to kick around even more.

"Hey, stop moving. I'm trying to get my hat but your panic attack is not helping!" Nicki called up to the ginger, hoping that would intimidate him into not moving.

"'Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare...It's deadly fun, but will sulk in the sun!' That's it! Devil's Snare hates sunlight!" Sydney cried, proud that she remembered that Herbology lesson. She pulled out her wand and cried out "_Lumos Solem!"_

A bright light flew out of the girl's wand, blinding everyone in the room as well as causing the vines to shrink away. Ron fell through the opening right on to his face. The others ran over to him and help the redheaded boy stand up.

**"**Ron, you okay?" Nicki asked.

"Yeah," he answered, dusting off his sweater.

"Okay."

"Lucky we didn't panic," Ron replied. Nicki looked a him in shock, not able to believe how dim the boy could be sometimes.

"Lucky Sydney pays attention in Herbology," Justin responded, giving Ron the same look of disbelief as Nicki.

"Come on guys, let's go," Sydney urged the group, ignoring Ron's moment.

The vine that had been holding Nicki's hat dropped it on the floor after it melted away from the light. Nicki picked up her hat, smacked Ron on the head with it, and followed her sister.

In the next room, all they could hear were flapping wings. It was filled to the brim with flying keys, which was actually scarier than it sounded.

"Look, there's the door," Justin exclaimed, pointing at a large wooden door with a giant keyhole. The four ran to the door, ignoring the bird-like keys flitting above their heads. Ron pulled as hard as he could on the handle before he fell backward from the force. Sydney stepped forward and tried using Alohamora like she had on the first door, but it still wouldn't open.

"We need a key," Sydney admitted. "The door is charmed against unlocking spells."

"We're looking for a big, old-fashioned one; probably rusty like the handle," Ron observed.

Nicki looked up and, using her Seeker skills, scanned the flock for the right key. When she finally located it, her face lit up as she said, "That one! The one with the bum wing. I'll go get it."

The girl hopped onto the ancient-looking broomstick and shakily flew up into the mob of keys, which started attacking her the second she touched the broom. She chased after the right key, which was surprisingly fast despite its dinged-up wing, while her friends shouted directions and assurances at her from below. The second Nicki caught the key and the other keys retreated, she threw her arms up victoriously, faking the sounds of a crowd cheering. She floated down to the ground and jumped off the broom. Her top layer of clothes were torn in places and her face and hands had a few scrapes, but the girl was still pleased with herself, especially since she had managed to hold on to her hat and the rips on her clothes made them look cooler.

"I take a moment for myself. Bow down, bow down," Nicki called out **(AN I don't own this quote or anything else from Happy Feet). **Ron looked at the girl in confusion while Justin and Sydney, who understood the muggle movie reference, crossed their arms and gave her a look that said "_seriously_?"

"Or not," Nicki said sheepishly. "Either works."

"Gimme that," Sydney responded, snatching the key out of her twin's hand. "Now then, if you are done wasting time, let's go." She put the key into the hole, turned it, and unlocked the door. The key sped out of the door the millisecond that it was no longer needed, its other wing bashed now that it had been caught twice.

The four walked into the next room, which Ron immediately recognized to be a giant wizards chessboard. The torches lining the board lit up, revealing pieces that were so large, the smallest pawns were as tall as the kids.

"There's the door," Nicki pointed out. The four hurried to the exit, only to be halted by the drawn swords of the pawns.

"Now what do we do?" Sydney asked as they backed away from the obstacles.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Ron exclaimed. "We play our way across the room." He took a breath before he started to give orders. "Justin, you'll be the queen's side castle. Nicki, you and Sydney take the empty bishop's square. And since there are two of you, you'll have to take every step together. As for me, I'll be a knight."

The students all took their positions, Justin on the right end of the board, the twins on the left, and Ron on the back of the knight piece next to the girls. Nicki and Sydney looked at each other, nodded, and wrapped an arm around each other, ready to move as one.

"What happens now?" Sydney asked nervously.

"Well, white moves first, and then..." Ron paused as he stared forward, "we play."

One of the white pawns slid forward two spaces, almost as if challenging the kids.

"Ron, you don't suppose this is going to be like...real wizards chess, do you?" Justin questioned, not looking at the others as he spoke.

The redhead held off on answering the question until he commanded a pawn, "You there! Move to D5." The black pawn scooted forward, only to be stabbed by the white. Smoke billowed up and broken remains of the black pawn scattered across the board. Ron gulped and muttered, "Yes Justin. I think this is gonna be exactly like wizards chess."

Sydney and Nicki's heads whipped around to stare at each other, their eyes wide with the same exact fear.

The game proceeded, Ron shouting orders and pieces getting smashed to bits. The white queen dominated the game. The kids got really anxious when the opposing queen stopped two spaces, a single move, away from the sisters.

Nicki looked around at the positions of the pieces. "Wait a minute," she murmured.

"You understand correctly, Nick," Ron said. "Once I make my move, the queen will take me. Then you two are free to check the king."

"No! Ron, no!" Justin cried out.

"What is it?" Sydney asked.

"He's going to sacrifice himself," Nicki answered.

"No you can't! There must be another way!" Sydney exclaimed.

"Do you want to stop Snape or not?" Ron snapped back. "Syd, you and Nick are the ones who have to go on. Not me, not Justin, you two!"

The twins nodded their heads in understanding. Ron looked forward, his dusty face grim. He took a deep breath, tightened his hold on the horse's metal reign, and commanded, "Knight to H3!" Ron held his breath as his piece slid forward and sideways. "Check," he mumbled.

The others watched in dread as the white queen approached the boy. Ron gulped in fear of the blank white face. The queen pulled out her weapon and stabbed the horse in the side. Ron screamed in pain as he was thrown off the piece, falling unconscious as he landed on the board, his piece falling off the edge.

"RON!" Nicki yelled. Justin started to move toward the limp boy, but was stopped by Nicki.

"No! Don't move!" Nicki called out to him. "Don't forget, we're still playing."

Justin nodded and stepped back to where he was standing.

The girls looked at each other, nodded, and moved forward in a straight diagonal line, their steps in perfect sync with each other. They stopped in front of the white king.

"Check!" Nicki started, her irrational tone like an explosion: loud, violent, and agressive.

"Mate!" Sydney finished, her level-headed tone like a knife: smooth, sharp, and calm in a deadly way.

The king's sword fell, clanking to the floor in defeat. The three remainders ran from their spaces over to Ron, a fallen warrior in battle.

Sydney looked up at Justin and said, "Stay and look after him, then go to the owlery, send a letter to Dumbledore."

"Ron's right," Nicki added quietly. "The two of us have to go on."

Justin looked up at his almost-girlfriend. "You'll be okay Syd. You're an amazing witch," he assured her. "And the two of you together are an unstoppable, magical force."

Sydney kissed him on the cheek and stood up. Nicki whacked the boy on the back in a friendly way that said_ "I approve, but hurt her and I'll kill you." _The twins stood up, turned toward the door, and ran toward whatever danger might lie ahead. But whatever it was, they would face it together._  
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**So, what'd ya think? If it's bad then don't answer that. Review and Merry Christmas, or whatever holiday you may celebrate :).**


	13. Face-Off

**Hey y'all! Well, the first year of this story is coming to a close with this last chapter. Happy New Year and Happy 2013! Oh and thanks to Skylar97 for favoriting my story. That was one of the best Christmas presents I've ever received.**

**Disclaimer: I never have and never will own the Harry Potter series…no matter how much I want to :(**

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Sydney and Nicki walked in to face the last person they expected to see in the room.

"Professor Quirrell?!" the twins said in disbelief.

Quirrell turned around from the mirror, his expression hard and cold.

"I knew there was something off about you," Nicki added, crossing her arms and glaring at the teacher. She finally understood why the man gave her the creeps when Hagrid first introduced the sisters to Quirrell.

"No, no it can't be!" Sydney exclaimed. She was not used to being wrong and this was a huge shock to her. "Snape...he was-"

"Yes he does seem the type doesn't he?" Quirrell interupted, his voice deep and cold, not even a single stutter or twitch. "With him, who would suspect p-p-poor, st-st-tuttering P-professor Quirrell?"

Nicki shook her head in disbelief. As much as she hated the man at the moment, she had to admire his convincing cover and well-thought-out plan. "Of course. In those crime shows its always the shy and fragile underdog who turns out to be the murderer, not the totally obvious first guess. Why didn't I think of that?" Nicki whispered to her sister.

Sydney ignored the brunette and walked forward, trying to figure out where she went wrong. "But that day during the quidditch match, Snape tried to kill Nicki."

"No, my dear girl...I tried to kill your precious sister! And trust me, if Snape's cloak hadn't caught on fire and broken my eye contact, I would have succeeded! Even with Snape muttering his little counter-curse."

"Snape was trying to save me?" Nicki replied, totally in shock that the man who acted like he hated her guts saved her life.

"I knew you two were a danger right from the off. Especially after Halloween."

"Then you let the troll in!" Sydney deduced, pointing a finger of accusation at her professor.

"Yeah, because of you Syd got buried in rubble and I got hit around like a baseball!"

"Very good, Potter, yes. Unfortunately, Snape wasn't fooled. While everyone else was running about the dungeon, he went to the third floor to head me off. He, of course, never trusted me again. He barely left me alone."

While Quirrell continued, the twins rubbed at their scars, which had all of a sudden started hurting.

"What he does not understand is...I am never alone. Now, what does this mirror do?"

Nicki then realized that the mirror behind Quirrell was the Mirror of Erised, as Dumbledore called it.

"I see what I desire," Quirrell said, his voice bordering on irritation, frustration, and confusion. "I see myself holding the Stone. But how do I get it?!"

"_Use the girls_" an airy voice hissed.

Quirrell whirled around, and, using a commanding voice in an attempt to regain authority, demanded, "Come here Potter! Now!"

Nicki, who was never good about taking orders, tested the man's patience by responding, "Which Potter, 'cuz, uh, there's two of us. You should know this by now, Professor. I'm Nicki Potter, and she's Sydney Potter." The brunette twin gestured toward herself and then toward her sister as she "reminded" the man of their identities.

"Don't test me, you little rebellious joker! Both of you! Now!"

The girls moved forward, but their walk was almost robotic. They couldn't stop or turn around, even if they wanted to. Their movement was involuntary and magically forced.

"Join hands, so that you see the same thing, and tell me what you see," Quirrell ordered coolly.

The girls took a deep beath and looked into the mirror together. Mirror Sydney held up her hand, which had a glittering red stone in it. Mirror Sydney gave a thumbs-up and passed the Stone to Mirror Nicki, who winked and smirked before she slid the Stone into one of the pockets in her cargo pants **_(_AN this was supposed to be Sydney's moment, but then I took into account what Sydney was wearing (tight denim capris) and I realized it would be hard to fit a Stone that big into pants like that, so I made it the twins' moment together). **Nicki slowly moved her hand toward the pocket and felt the bulge of a solid object inside it.

"What do you see?!" Quirrell asked, well more like demanded, not noticing the new occupant in Nicki's pocket.

"I, um, I see-"

"See us shaking hands with Dumbledore," Nicki cut in, knowing her twin wasn't a very good liar. "We've just won the house cup and Sydney was named the top student in the class."

"_They lie,_" the voice hissed.

Quirrell looked furious. "Tell the truth! What do you see?!"

"_Let me speak to them,_" the voice said, sounding like a parent when a child refuses to listen to the other parent.

"But master you are not strong enough," Quirrell insisted. The girls looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders in confusion as to who Quirrell was talking to.

"_I have strength enought for this,_" the voice assured the man.

Quirrell surrendered and started to unravel his turban. By this point, the twins had started to back slowly toward the exit. When they looked up, they saw in the mirror's reflection, a separate face almost growing out of the back of Quirrell's bald head.

"Ewww!" the girls replied together in disgust.

"_Sydney and Nicole Potter,_" the face mused, "_we meet again._"_  
><em>

"Voldemort?" the twins questioned.

"_Yes. You see what I've become? You see what I must do to survive? Live off another, a mere parasite. He, in cold blood, can sustain me, but it can not give me a body of my own. But there is something that can."_ Voldemort smiled evilly as the girls understood what he was hinting at. "_Something that, conveniently enough, lies in your pocket Nicole._"

The twins turned around, let go of each other's hands, and bolted for the door.

"_Stop them!_" Voldemort ordered the other side of the head. Quirrell snapped his fingers and the borders of the chamber set on fire, preventing any escape.

"_Don't be foolish,_" Voldemort chided. "_Why suffer the ridicules of death, when you can join me and live forever?__"_

_"_Never!" the girls cried out.

"_Bravery,_" Voldemort scoffed, "_Your parents had it too. Tell me, girls, would you like to see your mother and father again? Together, we can bring them back._" Images of James and Lily Potter appeared on the mirror, Lily next to Sydney and James next to Nicki. "_All I ask, is for something in return,_" Voldemort persuaded, making it sound so simple.

Nicki pulled the Stone out of her pocket as if asking if that was what the face wanted. Sydney's face was a mix of confusion and moral concern, but Nicki was just unsure. She wanted her parents again, but she was smart enough to know who was the bad guy in the room. Sydney knew that even if they did hand over the Stone, Voldemort wouldn't follow through on his word.

But yet, the promise of time with their parents, even a few more minutes, was too tempting.

"_That's it, Nicole,_" Voldemort pressed, delighted at the sight of the Stone. He was aware of the brunette's Slytherin qualities and the blonde's Ravenclaw qualities and knew just how to use them. "_You see, there is no good and evil. Only power, and those too weak to seek it. Together, we'll do extraordinary things. Just give me the Stone._" Voldemort's voice and expression strained, as if he was growing frailer by the second.

Suddenly, the images of the Potters faded. "You liar!" Sydey yelled.

"_Kill them!_" Voldemort ordered his host body. Quirrell immediately obeyed and flew up into the air, speeding at the twins. He knocked them down on to the stairs and held them by their throats.

The Stone dropped out of Nicki's hand from the impact. Sydney tried reaching for the stone, but it was just too far for her to grab. Quirrell's grips tightened, blocking the airflow. Sydney clawed at his hand, and the second the girl's hand touched Quirrell's, the man's hand started smoking.

Quirrell cried out in pain and he let go of Sydney. His hand started crumbling like rock.

"What is this magic?!" Quirrell screamed.

"_Fool! Get the Stone!"_ Voldemort commanded.

Nicki smirked as she thought of an idea. She kicked hard at the man's chest, knocking him down on to the floor. The twins got up, ran over to Quirrell, nodded at each other, and pressed their hands on his face. His face simmered as he hollered in pain. Voldemort now seemed to be feeling the pain too.

Within seconds, Professor Quirrell was reduced to nothing but a pile of ground rubble in wizard robes.

"Woohoo! We did it! We beat the bad guy! Uh huh, uh huh, uh huh, break it down!" Nicki cheered as she and Sydney did a little victory dance, which was totally different from their happy dance. After a minute of celebrating, Sydney walked over to the stairs and picked up the Stone that they had put their lives on the line for.

The twins smilled, but suddenly, a pile of dust rose from Quirrell's, um, remains. The dust took the shape of Voldemorts. The girls shrieked as the screaming dust pile flew straight at, scratch that, straight through them. The action knocked the twins unconscious. They fell on the stairs next to each other, the Stone still in Sydney's hand.

*(

Sydney and Nicki woke up in the hospital wing, dressed in their favorite pajamas, Sydney in a hot pink pajama top and fuzzy purple and pink polka dot pajama pants and Nicki in a loose jersey-like gray top and blue star pajama pants. Their wounds were either bandaged or healed. They looked up to find a table full of sweets, treats, and get-well cards addressed for them.

"Good afternoon Sydney, Nicole," Dumbledore greeted them.

"How many people know about what really happened?" Sydney asked, curious to know how many people knew the truth versus rumors.

"Naturally, everyone knows about what happened down there in the dungeon girls," Dumbledore replied. He then started inspecting the gifts left for the twins. "Ah, I see your friend Ronald has saved you the trouble of opening your chocolate frogs."

Nicki gasped, "Ron! How is he?"

"What about Justin? Is he okay" Sydney asked.

Dumbledore held up his hand to silence the two girls. "Fine. They are both just fine."

"But Professor, what about the Stone?" Sydney inquired.

"Relax, dear girl. The Stone has been destroyed. My friend, Nicholas, and I have had a little chat, and agreed it was best all around."

"But then Flamel, he'll die, won't he?" Nicki questioned.

Dumbledore sat down on the end of Sydney's bed so he could talk to both of the girls equally. "He has enough Elixir to set his affairs in order, but yes, he will die."

"But how is it we got the Stone, sir?" Sydney insisted. "One minute we were just standing there and then it just shows up in Nick's pocket."

Dumbledore held up a finger to quiet the girl so he could answer. "Ah, you see, only the people who wanted to find the Stone - find it, but not use it - would be able to get it." Dumbledore leaned in as if to share a secret as he whispered, "One of my more brilliant ideas, if I do say so myself. Between you and me, that is saying something." The girls smiled at the old headmaster.

"But does that mean, with the Stone gone, that Voldemort can never come back?" Nicki responded.

"Ah, I'm afraid there are other ways in which he can return." The girls looked down in disappointment. "Girls, do you know why Professor Quirrell couldn't bear to have you touch him?" The twins shook their heads. "It was because of your mother. She sacrificed herself for the two of you, and that kind of act leaves a mark." The twins reached for their scars. "No, no, no. This kind of mark cannot be seen. It lives in your very skin."

"What is it?" Nicki asked.

"Love," Dumbledore answered, making a simple answer seem so profound. He patted the girls on their heads before he stood up and returned to looking over the goodies. "Ah, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Jellybeans. I was most unfortunate in my youth to come across a vomit-flavored one." The girls grimaced in disgust. "And since then I'm afraid I've lost my liking for them, but I think I could be safe with a toffee colored one." Dumbledore picked a jellybean out of the carton, put it in his mouth, and seemed to be satisfied with it until he said, "Hmm, earwax."

*(

The twins left the hospital wing not long after Dumbledore's visit. In full uniform, they headed toward Gryffindor Tower and saw Justin and Ron talking at the top of a staircase. The boys turned and immediately grinned when they say the girls approaching.

"Alright there, Ron?" Nicki asked.

"Alright. You?" Ron responded.

"All good." Nicki answered.

"Sydney?" Justin spoke up.

"Never better," Sydney smiled. "How about you?"

"Great, especially knowing my girlfriend's okay."

Sydney held in a little squeal and Nicki and Ron were relieved that the two of them finally made it official.

*(

The school year ended with a feast just like the one at the beginning of the year, but this time the Great Hall was decorated with Slytherin banners and the place was covered with snakes and green and silver decorations. All of the houses, except for Slytherin of course, were bummed out by the results of the house cup. Gryffindor came in dead last, even behind Hufflepuff, because the twins, Ron, and Justin had cost their house so many points with their late night sneak-outs.

Suddenly, McGonagall tapped on her glass, drawing the attention of every student in the hall. Ron fixed his pointy black hat that was worn by all returning/experienced students for the feasts at the beginning and end of the school year.

Dumbledore stood up to address the student body, "Another year is gone. And now, as I understand, the House Cup needs awarding. And here is the house standing thus: in fourth place Gryffindor with 312 points." The students applauded weakly and Draco smirked at the losing table. "In third place Hufflepuff with 352 points. In second place Ravenclaw with 426 points. And in first place, with 512 points, Slytherin."

The Slytherins all cheered and made fun of the Gryffindors while Snape kept his demeanor while clapping hard for his house. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff clapped politely, but Gryffindor was too mad to applaud for the house of snakes.

"Yes, yes, well done Slytherin," Dumbledore congratulated. "However, recent events must be taken into account, and I have a few last-minute points to award." The students looked at each other in confusion while Snape looked at Dumbledore in concealed horror. "To Miss Sydney Potter, for the cool use of intellect while others were in great peril. 50 points." The Gryffindors cheered while Nicki gently punched her twin in the shoulder.

"Second, to Mister Ronald Weasley, for the best played game of chess Hogwarts has seen these many years. 50 points." Once again, Gryffindors cheered for their member while Justin and Ron high-fived and Nicki and Ron fist-bumped each other accross the table.

"Third, to Mister Justin Granger, for loyalty to his friends and never backing out of the possible danger. 50 points." Cheers again and Sydney blew her boyfriend a kiss accross the table.

"Fourth, to Miss Nicole Potter, for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor 50 points." Everyone except the Slytherins hooted and applauded. McGonagall looked like she couldn't be happier or prouder for the membes of her house.

"We're tied with Slytherin," Sydney exclaimed.

"And finally," Dumbledore continued, "it takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends. I award 10 points to Mister Neville Longbottom." The Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws screamed in joy. Neville sat at the table in shock. He couldn't believe that he was the one who gave Gryffindor the points needed to bring them over the top. The Slytherins were silent, staring at each other with horrified and humiliated expressions.

"If my calculations are correct," Dumbledore announced, "then I believe that a change in decorations is in order." The headmaster clapped his hands twice and the silver and green snake banners changed into red and gold lions. "Gryffindor wins the House Cup!"

Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws jumped up in excitement. Hagrid cried out, "Yes!" before he regained his composure as a faculty member of the school who couldn't show favortism. The students threw up their hats in celebration, all except the Slytherins, who if anything threw their hats down on the table in anger.

Sydney hugged Percy while Lee and Nicki held on to each other and jumped up and down in joy.

*(

The next morning, students were boarding the Hogwarts Express to go home for the summer.

"Hurry up now, or you'll be late," Hagrid warned some students who were taking their time getting their stuff on the train. Ron and Justin waved goodbye to Hagrid as they boarded. The twins stalled before getting on.

"Come on Syd," Justin insisted.

"Just give us a sec," the blonde twin assured him. She and Nicki hurried over to Hagrid.

"Thought ya were leaving without sayin' goodbye, didja?" Hagrid asked. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a red leather book, "This is for you two."

Sydney took the book and opened it up for she and Nicki to look at. Inside was a moving picture of the twins as infants with their parents. Lily was kissing Sydney's hand and James was using Nicki's hand to wave at the camera.

"Thank you Hagrid," the girls said together. They both gave him a big hug. But Hagrid let them go before he could start crying.

"Go on, on with ya," he said, waving the girls away to the train. "Syd, Nick, if that dope of a cousin of yours gives ya any grief, you can always threaten 'im with a nice pair o' ears to go with that tail." Nicki's face lit up at the opportunity.

"But Hagrid," Sydney argued, "we're not allowed to do magic outside of school. You know that."

"I do," Hagrid countered, "but your cousin don't, do he?" Hagrid winked and the girls left to board the train, where Ron and Justin were waiting for them at the door.

"Feels strange to be going home, doesn't it?" Justin said.

"We're not going home, not really," Nicki replied. The four of them got on the train and the twins leaned out of the window to wave goodbye to Hagrid. Nicki was right. They weren't going home. They were leaving home, because now Hogwarts was their home, and nothing would change that.

*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(

**It's just so sad that I'm done with this story...well not technically. But I have just finished my first story on fanfiction and it's making me all teary. Review and put me on author alert so you can know when Year Two comes out, but I'll post a note on this story for when it does. I love y'all and Happy New Year!**


	14. The Sequel is Out

**Hey y'all! The first chapter of the sequel is out, The Potter Twins: Year Two. Go to my profile, find the story, and go check it out! :-D**


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